Auckland floods: Historic Parnell pools completely cut-off, closed indefinitely

Parnell continues to be hard hit by the Auckland flooding saga, with some houses teetering on cliff edges now closer to the brink and the suburb’s historic pools cut off.

Further heavy rain on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning has exacerbated some existing slips and created several smaller mudslides.

Some new slips have occurred on the cliffs below Crescent Rd, where huge subsidence into Hobson Bay following Friday’s deluge saw several multi-million dollar homes and luxury apartments yellow stickered.

Several homes in Parnell's Crescent Rd were yellow-stickered due to landslips down into Hobson Bay. Photo / Alex Burton

On the other side of St Stephens Ave, in Judge St, a home lost a metre of its back lawn in a slip amid Friday’s rain. The home is built on a rock foundation, unlike some in Crescent Rd built on concrete slabs, and is itself unaffected by the subsidence.

That slip, down onto Judges Bay Rd, has completely blocked the access road to Parnell Baths, closing the century old complex with its 60m salt water lap pool indefinitely.

The foot access via Point Resolution Bridge escaped damage in the slide but is closed. The complex cannot open without road access due to the need for the delivery of pool chemicals and access for emergency vehicles.

The historic Parnell Baths complex has been cut-off and is closed indefinitely after landslides caused by repeated deluges in Auckland. Photo / NZME

In a post on social media, pool staff said the complex would not open until the tonnes of debris were removed from the road and the cliff made safe. They could not provide a timeframe for re-opening.

“Council specialists will be assessing the cliff this week and formulating a plan to remove the debris and render the cliff safe for access,” the post said.

A massive amount of debris came down the cliff onto Judges Bay Rd. Photo / Alex Burton

“Until this time unfortunately Parnell Baths will remain closed.

“We are absolutely gutted but thank you for your understanding and we hope you are all keeping safe.”

The opening of the complex, Council owned but privately operated by CLMNZ, was delayed by a month after an earlier landside severed a wastewater pipe and wrote off a transformer supplying power to the site.