Two homes to the right of the Norfolk Pine above the slip are owned by the couple and are yellow-stickered. Photo / Michael Craig
They were in their lounge, the Australian Open turned up loud to counter thunderous rain when they heard a dull thud.
“You don’t hear much noise at the end of the point so I wondered if it was a car boot or a door,” said Stanley Point homeowner Jacquie Mockridge.
That dull thud was the sound of the first fall of earth, cascading off the cliff beneath their own and their adjoining properties around 20m to the sea below.
Theirs is a double calamity because Mockridge and Eric Selwood have both homes on the point, scarred by cliff collapses, collectively valued at $9.4 million by Auckland Council.
Their two sections near Cyril Bassett Lookout had been clawed by rain on January 27, becoming so sodden that when it went, mature pohutukawa also went crashing on to the rocks below.
It was getting dark that Friday when Mockridge saw a big olive tree out the front of their clifftop place on a lean so her partner Selwood investigated.
“He opened the door and went out. Just at that moment, the land slid away and a big corner of our property fell. There was just enough light when the corner went. We saw it go and heard it. It’s just a big thud. We went back inside so fast that I didn’t smell anything,” Mockridge said.
The couple own adjoining waterfront places, both now yellow-stickered, leaving them worried about the future yet hopeful of cliff stabilisation and repairs.
The slip left the deck of their brown and orange home hanging above the cliff, land beneath it gone. The deck is inaccessible until more thorough investigations are completed and a plan actioned.
“If we lost any more, the house might go,” she said of that brown and orange house worst hit by the slip. They were planning to sell that but have withdrawn from the market.
“Eric estimates it’s about 7m,” she said of their land lost at that house during the storm.
At their neighbouring white and grey place, the cliff collapse had “taken off a corner and compromised our whole property”.
“It’s been an absolutely harrowing experience. We evacuated very, very quickly. It was very dark and we had no idea how much land had gone and if there would be further land going. When it happened, we went into a state of panic, packed a bag, stuffed our cats into a cage, grabbed valuables, got into the car and went to a friend’s place who also has cats. We shut ourselves in a room. I didn’t sleep. I thought the whole house would go,” she said referring to the orange and brown place.
On Saturday, January 28, they returned with a family member. A builder advised them they could go back inside. Auckland Council inspectors were already in the street and examined both homes and sites.
On Sunday, January 29, the National Emergency Management Agency visited, confirming the yellow stickering.
The stability of a towering Norfolk pine in front of their home is being examined.
Mockridge thanked all staff who had visited, saying experts from Hamilton and Tauranga were in Auckland to help: “The council has been doing a fabulous job, coming to check on us to make sure everyone is okay.”
Now, the couple fears Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle, due to hit on Sunday.
They wonder what further damage that might cause.
Chris Darby, a North Shore councillor and Stanley Point resident, walked the area on January 30 to examine the damage.
“The fragile nature of the North Shore coastal sandstone and mudstone cliffs is evident in what must be hundreds of slips, large and small,” Darby said.
“This morning’s low tide gave me the opportunity to survey some of the damage. Just in the vicinity of Stanley Point and Bayswater there are about 30 properties affected by slips.
“Many have already been initially assessed by council staff working non-stop, with a handful being red or yellow stickered.”
He told people to stay well clear from the top or bottom of the slips and said with more rain and overland flows, the ground was most likely still moving.
Other properties affected in the area are three $9.5m adjoining townhouses near the Mockridge/Selwood homes, which the Herald reported on last year.
Those places lost the ground beneath decks last winter. Black polythene has been laid in an attempt to stop rain and wind from further eroding fragile grounds.
Owners got council enforcement action last year with dangerous building notices requiring work to the decks nearest the cliffs.
Ross Roberts, council head of engineering resilience, said part of the cliff in front of those three places had fallen due to heavy mid-winter rain.
“The slip beneath Stanley Point Rd occurred on July 12 following an extremely intense downpour. Following an assessment by council engineers, it was deemed that the landslide was a natural occurrence caused by the period of heavy rain,” Roberts said last year.
Also in Stanley Point, a slip occurred near part of the $60m+ Devon Park apartments.
David Rowland, chairman of the body corporate and a resident of the 12-level 60-unit block, said a cautionary approach was being taken before a full assessment of the low-rise building could be made.
People were no longer living in a six-unit annexe beside the tower because it was red-stickered but the tower was still safe to occupy, he said.
The apartments are at 45 Stanley Point Rd, have extensive views of the city, shore and waterfront, an outdoor pool and sell for $1 million plus each.
“As far as the slip is concerned, it’s only affecting the west wing or annexe which is just six apartments,” Rowland said.
At the end of the point at Stanley Point, homes have lost ground and a spa pool and trampoline are now close to the edge of the cliff face. Trees can be seen in the water below, discoloured when Herald photographer Michael Craig flew over on February 1.
Darby said he was concerned about the whole area.
“Overland flows from structures and impervious landscaping that find a way to the tops of cliffs can have disastrous effects.
“Severe pruning or removal of pohutukawa and other vegetation for views often results in land failure when the root systems - binding soils and rock - die.
“In my view council could be guiding property owners better on how to maintain a healthy cliff environment, with planting plans and information on the dos and don’ts of stormwater disposal.
“It’s something I raised last year as planning committee chair and intend to pick up again.”
Some people without existing consent won’t get a wastewater connection for years.