Slips fail to deter royal couple

A slip near the luxury Wharekauhau Lodge failed to mar rest time in Wairarapa for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince George this week.

Persistent rain caused flooding and slips on South Wairarapa roads but didn't spoil the royal couple's trip, as they reportedly stayed at Wharekauhau Lodge on Tuesday night.

Despite a slip occurring 1km south of Western Lake Rd which leads to the luxury lodge, it was still passable on one lane, and the motorcade of police officers and royal officials seen around the lodge on Tuesday was able to escort the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and son George back to Wellington yesterday.

They were due to be back at Government House, where they are staying, to take their son to a playdate with Kiwi kids, arranged by Plunket.

"We had some issues on the road out to Wharekauhau," said Mark Allingham, South Wairarapa District Council's group manager infrastructure services.

As well as the slip on the road, just south of the East-West Access Road junction, there was significant surface flooding on the road on Tuesday, threatening to close it.

There was also a slip on Ocean Beach Rd, right in front of Wharekauhau.

It was definitely an interesting time for the royal couple to be in Wairarapa, said Mr Allingham.

He said over the last two days there were numerous incidents of slips, dropouts and flooding over roads, some of which had to be closed.

"As some were cleared, others had come down making it difficult for council contractor Higgins."

White Rock Rd was closed due to three slips, and because a section of the road had washed away.

Mr Allingham said it would take some time to fix because the slips prevented contractors from getting to the washed-out section.

Kaiwaka Rd off White Rock Rd was impassable because of water scouring out the road.

Te Awaiti Rd on the Tora coast is closed until further notice at the section known as "the gluepots" because of a slip.

Tora Rd is open but people are urged to take care as it is one lane only in some places.

Mr Allingham reminded people to take care as other areas were still coming down.

NZTA, council and their contractors will be doing an extensive check on road conditions on Monday, as council has lodged an emergency works request with NZTA for additional funding to cover the clearance and repairs.

"At this stage the cost is unknown," said Mr Allingham.

He thanked local residents for their patience with repairs and for passing on information to council on damage found.