A major milestone in Hawke's Bay's cyclone recovery has now been reached with the regional council confirming 287 properties as red-zoned, known as Category 3.
It means voluntary buyouts will be underway by the end of this month. Since the process started in June, many landowners have been trying to appeal the red-zoning. While some have been successful, the rest are now locked in.
Such as Dan Gale, his family owns a large portion of Esk Valley and are refusing to move.
"Our family will not be accepting the buyout," Gale said.
About 12 families in the valley are also staying put and Gale said insurance is becoming a problem for everyone in Category 3.
"They've been told once you accept a buyout your insurance will be canned, and if you turn it down it'll also be cancelled," he said.
There are 287 Hawke's Bay properties in Category 3 which means the risk to life is deemed too high, so Napier and Hastings District councils are making voluntary buy-out offers to encourage people to relocate.
"We think there is an ongoing intolerable risk to life as a result of flooding," Hawke's Bay Regional Council CEO Nic Peet said.
But some say with a proper flood warning system there is no risk.
"If you've got a proper plan in place there is no risk to life" Gale said.
He has his own flood warning system on Esk River that sets off an alarm at his house when the river levels rise. It worked in the 2018 flood and they evacuated safely, which is why he's proposing the creation of Category 2W, where the W stands for 'warning'.
"I've proven my systems to work so why can't we implement that and implement that for people that want to stay," he said.
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It's something National Party cyclone recovery spokesperson Chris Penk is backing.
"The concept of 2W works because we want to understand if people can be made safe using the right warnings, then they should be allowed to remain in place," Penk said.
But the council disagrees.
"It doesn't fit in the land categories and framework that was put in place by Government I'm afraid," Peet said.
Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson told Newshub that flood risk categories have been agreed upon by councils and the Government for several months now and are currently being consulted on in most communities.
"Any change to the categories would best be discussed with the relevant council. I would note that accepting the buyouts offered under Category 3 is voluntary - no one has to move off their land, but the Government and councils are providing an opportunity for people to do so," Robertson said.
Under the council's category 3 voluntary buyout policy, people who own more than 2 hectares of land are only eligible for the house to be bought out, not the rest of their property. It means some people could be left with a large uneconomical piece of dirt.
"We'd be left with a 13-acre block of land that has no scale or potential to be cropping land," Gale said.
With properties now confirmed as Category 3, Hastings District and Napier City Council can continue to progress the rollout of their Category 3 Voluntary Buy-out Policy for eligible property owners.
Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said having a voluntary buy-out programme in place is critical.
"Not only does the voluntary buy-out process enable our most severely impacted people to make fully informed decisions, it also provides them greater certainty about their future and a way to move on with their lives following the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle," she said.
Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise said the coming weeks will be spent progressing the steps required to enable buy-outs to begin by the end of October.
"Between now and the end of the month, Napier City Council and Hastings District Council will continue to work together to ensure we're fully prepared to commence implementation of our recently adopted Category 3 Voluntary Buy-Out Policy," she said.
"This includes establishing a dedicated Voluntary Buy-Out Office, which we expect to be in place by Tuesday, 24 October, and ensuring it has the resources required to support those Category 3 property owners who wish to consider a voluntary buy-out offer from their respective Council."
But for the 882 homes stuck in Category 2A - many are still waiting for the council to decide if they can rebuild.
Peet said the council is working as quickly as it can.
"Our technical experts continue to work closely with external consultants to investigate and analyse potential flood mitigation solutions, and we plan to engage directly with each provisionally categorised 2A, 2P and 2C community to seek feedback on these solutions as soon as possible."
