The first stage of the Franz Josef resilience infrastructure project has now had its funding of $12.3M approved. Stage One of the projects includes the upgrade of the northern stopbanks to protect the Franz Josef township from the Waiho River.
Considerable work has been undertaken between the West Coast Regional Council, Provincial Development Unit and Department of Internal Affairs on getting this project to the point it is now. This work started in March 2020 when the West Coast Regional Council submitted a package of projects worth a total of $45.1M across Franz Josef, Hokitika, Greymouth and Westport as part of Central Government’s economic stimulus package for ‘shovel ready’ projects announced during the COVID-19 lockdown.
