KEY POINTS:
Residents of Kawakawa Bay, on Auckland's south-eastern coast, are waiting anxiously to see if a major slip blocking their main access road will slip further and take houses with it.
A handful of residents have been evacuated as a precaution, while engineers determine what the moving slab of land is going to do.
The landslide, described as "no ordinary slip", has already closed the main coastal road at Turei Hill, just north of the Kawakawa Bay settlement.
Following heavy rain in July about 500 cubic metres fell on the road on Sunday. Slips continued throughout this week and yesterday the major slip moved about 45mm over 12 hours.
The Manukau City Council has now pulled out its workers because of safety concerns and senior council executive Rick Walden has warned people not even to walk along the beach in front of the slip site.
"The prediction from our geotechnical experts is that within the next four days we are likely to see a very significant slip event which could sweep across the road and on to the foreshore."
It could happen at any time and was an extreme risk to people near the road, he said.
The council has said that with the threat of further major slips, the road could be closed for up to a month.
For the next week the council has agreed to provide a free ferry service between Kawakawa Bay and the Pine Harbour marina, and a limited bus service to Papakura and Thames.
Work is also being done to make sure electricity and phones won't be cut off if a landslip happens. The council was also looking at temporary alternative routes around the landslip.
A total of six properties the bay have now been deemed unsafe for residents to live in because of the danger posed by the slip.
- NZPA
