There’s little sign today of the devastating floods that swept through North Canterbury farmland last year.
The debris-strewn paddocks, flattened fences, washed out culverts and floodgates that greeted farmers at the end of July and in August last year have been cleaned up, restored and returned to normal.
Many volunteers throughout the district pitched in, but it was also thanks to the efforts of offenders serving community work sentences, that the work could be completed before the searing summer sun arrived in late November.
Corrections played a pivotal role in what was one of the biggest clean-up operations ever organised in the Hurunui District and farmers are singing the praises of the 158 offenders involved.
The community work sentence requires offenders to do unpaid work as a way of providing reparation to the community they have offended against. Community Probation & Psychological Services Christchurch Area Manager Nick Scott says helping flood ravaged farmers out in their time of need was a fitting project for them to be involved in.
Nick says the offenders enjoyed being part of the process and some were clearly moved by the level of destruction.
Two van loads of offenders helped clean up farmer Jonny Ussher’s property and he couldn’t have been more grateful. They spent
five days clearing debris from fence lines and paddocks – back-breaking, monotonous work that would have taken Jonny weeks to do without help.
He was delighted with the quality of work and very impressed with the work supervisors who “were great to deal with”.
North Canterbury Rural Support Trust spokeswoman Barbara McDonald says many farmers had been hit by drought and an economic downturn the previous year so the floods couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Barbara saw some farmers in tears but as the clean-up work progressed their tears turned to smiles and her phone rang hot in the evenings with thank you messages.
“I know some of them had misgivings about having offenders on their properties but those misgivings soon disappeared when they saw the results. Having 10 men dedicated to the job at any given time was significant and the quality of their work was great.”
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ISSN 1178-8453