Big bill looms as Ngaio Gorge slip cleared
Most of the Ngaio Gorge slip has been cleared while workers begin building a container wall in the northern Wellington suburb.
Wellington City Council spokeswoman Victoria Barton-chapple said a cordon at the bottom of the work area had been moved up Ngaio Gorge, restoring access to all the businesses in the lower part of the area.
Four shipping containers were delivered to the site on Thursday and will be filled with concrete blocks as rockfall protection, as work continues.
Most of the preparation works for a temporary road adjacent to Trelissick Park were also complete with some minor cleaning and paving works planned for the weekend.
‘‘At this stage we are aiming to have at least a one-way system in place with a restricted speed limit of 30kmh in both directions early next week,’’ Barton-chapple said.
However, the repair job is going to leave ratepayers with a hefty bill. The massive slip is one of the enduring images from a saturated July, which new council figures show resulted in 260 trees requiring urgent attention, 190 flooding events and 300 slips.
Council spokesman Richard Maclean said the council was not expecting the cleanup bill to be markedly higher than previous wet and windy winters.
‘‘Obviously the Ngaio Gorge landslide will be an exception – and it is likely the repair job there will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars minimum,’’ he said.
Another 1100 cubic metres of rock were carted away from Ngaio Gorge on Tuesday.
The council was preparing a temporary road through the layby near Trelissick Park to allow space for the container wall in the downhill lane, and leave room for traffic in both directions during peak hours.
Maclean said the trees damaged by the storm had ranged from broken branches to some posing safety risks. They included 100 wind-damaged trees removed from Prince of Wales Park.