When Cyclone Gabrielle hit the East Coast on the 14th February 2023, it caused Approximately $5billion worth of damage. 5.2km of HBRC stop banks was breached, across about 30 locations, and a further 28km were weakened.

HBRC engaged local civil contractors immediately to repair these scours and breaches back to pre-cyclone levels.

Having a relationship with HBRC since 2014, Instant Green was issued a PO and engaged directly by HBRC to hydro mulch the stop banks once they were at final levels and topsoiled.

This involved communicating with multiple contractors across multiple sites throughout the rebuild stage. With a sound knowledge and reputation amongst local contractors, we were able to work seamlessly with Goodman/Gair contracting, Slick Civil, Dirt Worx, Bare Knuckle contracting, Phoenix Contracting, Truman Earthworks, and the HBRC project managers, ensuring projects were completed on time and at the right time.

We had to utilise our full suite of equipment to successfully complete all the sites. One of the most challenging sites was Lower Walker Road, on the Waipawa river. We could only access with 4wd light vehicles or tracked machines. On top of this we had to hydro mulch the 3ha site in the middle of winter, with soil temperatures at 7.3 degrees and only getting colder.

With our light footprint, nimble JCB Fast Trac and 4x4 Army truck, we stabilised the 3ha site in 2 days, using a pump to draw water from the Waipawa river. By adding a winter active species to the mix we were still able to achieve a grass strike in just 2 weeks, and had achieved 80% grass strike by 30th August.

At one of the Puketapu sites, the earthworks contractor was really pushing hard to topsoil before a rain event came through. They finished the 2ha site just in time and we were able to hydromulch the entire 2ha in 1 day on site with our 8x8 and T400 (the largest hydroseeder in New Zealand). After the rain event, there was no run off or sediment movement and we achieved an 80% grass strike in 4 weeks.

Instant Green Contribution to Hawkes Bay community.

• Being a family business, locally owned and operated in Hawkes Bay this workload meant we had to take on more staff. Over the course of the cyclone rebuild, we took on several new staff in Hawkes Bay. As well as paying performance-based bonuses to our staff, we also upskill our team by paying for their truck licenses and further educating them in industry relevant skills. We pride ourselves on paying above market wages to our staff, so we can elevate their personal lives.

• By choosing Instant Green for HBRC projects, the money is going right back into the Hawkes Bay economy with all our staff and shareholders being based in Hawkes Bay. Truly locals supporting locals.