Category 1 retired

Published: 16 February 2026

Category 1 was formally retired in December 2025 as part of a gradual phase out of Cyclone Gabrielle land categories. Since then, the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has been updating land categorisation maps which are available here.

We are writing to the relevant district and city councils to inform them of the change. City and district councils manage property files. We will also write to the Insurance Council of New Zealand to inform them of the change. Properties previously in Category 1 are now removed from Government’s Future of Severely Affected Land (FOSAL) Risk Categorisation Framework.

Introduced following Cyclone Gabrielle, Category 1 supported early recovery by helping identify communities where flood risk was considered to be at a tolerable level, meaning no flood mitigation works were required.

For those wishing to get more detail about the Council decision to retire Category 1 please see the full paper presented to the Regional Council on 26 November here.

You can find FAQs and further information about the land categorisation process here.

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