At Tuesday's Cabinet meeting, the Government considered a preliminary report on the damage caused to all public infrastructure, including roads and rail with an initial estimate of the cost of the damage. Local authorities will now prepare a full assessment of the work that needs to be done together with detailed cost estimates. This will be co-ordinated by the Department of the Environment. The detailed assessment and the action required will then be considered by Government.
In the coming weeks, I will allocate state road grants to local authorities for the local and regional roads under their authority. Local authorities are free to use this money to repair roads damaged by the recent storms.