Ashburton District Mayor Neil Brown on Thursday (24 June) hosted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, local MPs Jo Luxton and Rino Tirikatene, other Canterbury mayors, local iwi, and a range of central and local government agencies and representatives for a roundtable discussion on the impact and challenges each Canterbury district face, following a wet weather event last month that resulted in significant flooding in the region.

Mayors Dan Gordon (Waimakariri), Sam Broughton (Selwyn), Nigel Bowen (Timaru), Graham Smith (Mackenzie), and Environment Canterbury Councillor John Sunckell and Chair Jenny Hughey joined Mayor Neil Brown in detailing their respective concerns around welfare and the need for resilience in this part of the country.

Specific to the Ashburton District, Mayor Brown outlined the magnitude of the cost of repairing the damaged road and bridge network, stressed the importance of a second urban bridge over the Ashburton River to relieve pressure on the current State Highway One (SH1) bridge, and the funding gap that exists to make this project a reality.

"The closure of the bridge during the recent flooding meant a disconnection for the Ashburton community on either side of the Ashburton River – this not only affected local residents but also regional travellers, commercial transport, and essential services," he said.

A business case for a second bridge is already underway and an extension of time for its completion was granted this week to ensure it included updated traffic modelling and experience from the recent flood event. This report is now expected by the end of September.

While no funding commitments were made towards a second bridge during her visit to Ashburton, the Prime Minister did announce that the Government would be injecting a further $4 million into relief funding to support flood-affected farmers in the wider Canterbury region.

She said farmers were dealing with a massive recovery effort following the floods and facing significant uninsurable costs.

"On the ground assessments of farm damage are showing the impacts on some rural properties have been severe.

"This new funding will help ensure that they are supported and can get on with the job of fixing their farms and get their farming operations underway again," the Prime Minister said.

She also announced an additional $100,000 for the Mayoral Relief Fund to support flood recovery efforts.

The funding is in addition to the $500,000 committed by the Ministry for Primary Industries on 1 June and an initial $100,000 announced for the Mayoral Relief Fund on 31 May.

Mayor Brown welcomed the support and said the extra relief funding would be a huge benefit for Ashburton district farmers.

"Our farmers are trying to repair fences and shift significant debris and shingle left by the one-in-200 year flood; they can use all the help they can get," he said.

In addition, Enhanced Taskforce Green funding of $500,000 from the Ministry of Social Development, which was announced earlier this month, has been activated to help with the clean-up.

Pictured left-to-right: Mayor Neil Brown (Ashburton), Mayor Nigel Bowen (Timaru), Mayor Dan Gordon (Waimakariri), MP Rino Tirikatene, Mayor Graham Smith (Mackenzie), Mayor Sam Broughton (Selwyn), MP Jo Luxton, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Environment Canterbury Chair Jenny Hughey.