Transport agency to blame for slip - resident

An excavator breaks away loose rock after a slip closed SH2 at Te Marua, Upper Hutt. Photo / NZPA

The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) are to blame for a slip that left a Hutt Valley house almost teetering on the edge, the home owner says.

Kevin Jones rushed home from work at lunchtime to find his house 10m away from the edge of a slip that blocked State Highway 2 at Te Marua, 6km northeast of Upper Hutt.

Police closed both lanes near the Te Marua Lakes earlier today after a large slip blocked the southbound lane.

However, traffic has begun flowing again, with vehicles travelling both ways under the direction of road contractors.

Mr Jones said he planned to return home with his wife and three of his seven children tonight, despite the fact nobody had been able to tell him whether it was safe to do so.

"(NZTA) is ultimately responsible for this slip and they don't seem to be very concerned at all, everyone else seems to be concerned about it - so I'm left a little bit in no man's land now."

NZTA owned the land that slipped and Mr Jones said a concrete support across part of the hill should have been extended, which would have stopped the slip from happening.

"It's probably just a matter of time before there was going to be a problem and of course here we are."

He had tried to call the agency "for months" but nobody had returned his calls, he said.

Council engineers would now be following up the problem with NZTA.

The area was due for heavy rain tonight and tomorrow, which could endanger his house further, Mr Jones said.

"Fingers crossed we'll be here tomorrow."

- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF