Edgecumbe homes red stickered after a wall of water burst through the town's stopbank earlier this year are finally being demolished.
About 15 homes on College Rd and Rata Ave are slated for demolition Photo: RNZ / Tom Furley
More than 300 homes were damaged when the Rangitāiki River flooded the Bay of Plenty town in April, with 12 properties unable to be salvaged.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which purchased the properties in October, will have contractors at the College Road site over the next few days, and demolition and rebuild work is likely to take place in the New Year.
Ursula Mayo's home was red stickered, and while she said the council had offered to retrieve specific items for residents, most homes had been sitting in water since April.
"I don't hold out a lot of hope."
Vicky Richard's old home is also set to be demolished and she said it would be a good thing for the community.
"Just having the homes there still existing is quite heartbreaking for many... they're looking forward to seeing them going. Part of the healing process I guess."
The properties will be cleared to make way for a new stop bank, and residents hope a park or community garden will also be created in the space.
Regional council project manager Peter Hay said the pieces of the stopbank wall also had an emotional attachment.
"We have made sure that we store those pieces off-site until those most impacted by the floods have had the opportunity to consider what they'd like to do with them," he said.
In a statement, Mr Hay said the design for the new stopbank had been delayed to allow for recommendations made by Sir Michael Cullen's report into the floods.
The October report found failures, including the lack of an evacuation plan for the town, and recommended urgent planning to manage future flooding.
Reuben Cohen's home is among those set to be pulled down in the coming weeks, but he said he did not want to see it happen.
"It's too much of an emotional wrench to see the family home of 30 years being pulled down, knowing full well from our perspective it needn't have happened."
Mr Cohen is among the 300 people who have signed up for a class action seeking an apology and compensation from the council over the flooding damage, which they argue could have been prevented.
The case is expected to be lodged early next year.
Mr Cohen said the council had consistently failed to front up over the floods.
"We do not want to be the ones to be unsympathetic in this situation but we do find it quite hard when the council has not faced us even once."
