Lights back on in Kawakawa Bay homes after landslips cut power

Kawakawa Bay road damage from heavy rain has delayed repair to the power lines. Photo/Jason Oxenham

The last four homes without power in Kawakawa Bay now have their lights back on - although it's not a permanent fix.

Geotechnicians checked out the stability of the land yesterday before allowing workers in. Today a helicopter brought in new power lines, and workers reconnected them by hand to affected poles.

Heavy downpours last week and in March have caused large landslides along the Kawakawa Bay Coast Rd. Parts of the road have slumped and cracked, making it too dangerous for Vector's vehicles to go in.

But Vector has said it will be a challenge to find a long-term solution to restore power. Several power poles are teetering on the edge of the cliffs and the tarmac around them has cracked.

A Vector spokesman said: "The key to making any long-term decision is learning more about the stability of the land and we'll work with council in doing that.

"It's the instability of it that prevented us from reconnecting supply any sooner over the last few days. Once we know more about the stability we'll be able to assess which options are best for long-term surety of supply."

He couldn't speculate on what those options might be.