Coastal community seeking answers from council on closed gorge

Dan Ramsden spoke to Tararua District Council in a public forum about Marainanga Gorge. Photo / Leanne Warr

Residents in one of the coastal communities hit hard by Cyclone Gabrielle say they could be completely cut off if another access point is closed by a slip.

The residents addressed Tararua District Council in a public forum at the council meeting this week on the subject of the closure of the Marainanga Gorge.

Huge slip damage to Coast Road through the Marainanga Gorge between Ākitio and Pongaroa east of Dannevirke. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Following the cyclone two weeks ago, access through the gorge was closed due to a major dropout and slips, but residents told the council another part of Coast Road, known as Beach Hill, was also vulnerable to land movement and could possibly slip as well, which could cut off any access.

Farmer Dan Ramsden said the gorge was essential to his farming operations and to those that lived on Coast Road.

“Beach Hill is vulnerable in three places. If the gorge isn’t reinstated, it could cut all transport out.”

He said there were people who had jobs in town, and fuel was needed for equipment and machinery on properties.

“I feel everyone that’s affected needs to know what the council’s going to do.”

Ramsden said there was a major bridge that water had gone right over the top of during the floods.

“This is the second time,” he said, stating that the same thing happened in 2004.

The council’s 10-year plan was changed in 2011 due to the Christchurch earthquake, and the Government took funding away from improvements they had been hoping to do on the Coast Road.

“Nothing’s been achieved since 2011 to improve the road.”

Communications were also not good, Ramsden said, with telecom cables down.

“People need access to landlines. We need cellphone coverage. It’s quite a big area that can’t receive communications.”

Resident Mark Wheeler said he lived up at the end of a road and his property was now “jokingly called Land’s End”.

He said the road closures affected the school and services.

“Currently, the school’s largest bus run was Coast Road with 18 pick-ups, the bulk of those being on the other side of the non-existent Marainanga Gorge Road now.”

Legislation prevented buses from travelling along closed roads.

“Therefore they cannot do pick-ups, and it’s up to parents, basically, to attempt to make arrangements to get their children to school,” Wheeler said.

He said one parent was taking as many children as possible to Pongaroa and back every day.

“That’s pretty much untenable.”

Wheeler said there were negative psychological effects being felt by the children through the lockdowns, and the stress of not being able to connect with playmates.

“I would urge the council to reassess the criteria that they apply for risk management when they close a road and balance the benefits against the harm that letting a road close causes the community as a whole.”

He said that the community was of the opinion that access via River Road and up Beach Hill had to be a priority in the district, especially in terms of livestock movement, with many farmers looking at how they were going to be able to keep stock over winter.

“They’ve lost pasture. They will have to de-stock over winter. Autumn is already here, it’s well in advance.”

Wheeler said winter was expected to be even harder and there would likely be animal welfare issues.

He said having roads closed tended to limit what could and could not go in.

It was also not particularly helpful to have reminders that if they drove on closed roads, they might not have insurance in the event of an accident.

“It elevates stress levels in what is already quite a stressful time.”

Mark Wheeler said there would be adverse effects on the community should there be further road closures. Photo / Leanne Warr

Closing the coast road would have a few economic and social adverse effects on the community, Wheeler said, with businesses losing customers.

There would also be drops in membership for local clubs as well, as “the social weave that keeps the community together will be under severe stress”.

Coast Road resident Angela Pullen said she had driven the roads for the last 30 years and the past five or six had been horrendous.

“It’s always been a little bit tricky, but we haven’t been able to keep up with what we’ve needed to keep up with.”

She said Beach Hill was quite fragile and she had seen some movement, which was new.

“We become pretty vulnerable without Beach Hill.

“It’s quite an anxiety to live with this.”

Pullen said there were a few vulnerable people within the community, and that added up to it becoming a necessity to reinstate Marainanga Gorge.

“I think that the council really has a duty of care to the community. We really need a safety net.”

Tararua District Mayor Tracey Collis said the Government had made it clear that the requirement to reconnect communities and future-proofing the country’s infrastructure were going to be significant undertakings.

She said it was going to require some hard decisions being made with Government.

“We need to work on a suite of measures that ensure that we build back better.”

Collis said Cyclone Gabrielle had hit the Tararua District hard, with about a third of it impacted - 145,000 hectares of land.

She said its impacts and flow-on effects were still being understood long-term and short-term.

The Government was committed to building back better and had said there were tough calls that needed to be made, and if a road had been built once or twice before, it may not be again.

Collis said she was given great heart by the fact that where repairs had been made to Route 52, using geo-tech knowledge, those repairs held in the cyclone.