Storms threaten tracks’ future
Mayor seeks Bay help
DOC says the damage from the storms raises questions about whether low use areas, such as the Kaituna Track, should be maintained if they face repeated damage.
‘‘As a community, we need to start thinking about, are we going to have to step back from these low-use places,’’ Golden Bay Department of Conservation operations manager Andrew Lamason said ‘‘We got hit by one ex-cyclone and that’s the damage we’ve got.
‘‘Next year the sea levels are warmer again, we might get two or three, they might be gruntier, so we have to think about how we are going to manage that going forward.’’
Lamason said the low-use Kaituna Track in the Collingwood Area raised the biggest questions about whether it should be maintained.
‘‘Kaituna has been thrashed … if you know the track you can walk up to the gold [workings] there’s a little bit of damage but it’s repairable.
‘‘Beyond there, every bridge is gone. We don’t have the resources to go and replace every bridge that doesn’t get much use.’’
DOC was looking at diverting the track because ‘‘almost every bridge and structure in Kaituna has been demolished’’, he said.
‘‘I know this is really hurting now, but we need to think a lot further down the line and we need to think resilience,’’ he said.
‘‘As a nation, we can’t keep affording to fix everything we have got. We have a lot affecting us, not just in the DOC realm, we can’t just keep repairing to make it the same as it was.’’ He said Kaituna was an ‘‘awesome track’’ but it did not get a lot of use.
‘‘Abel Tasman has tens of thousands of people going through it. Lets make it as resilient and safe as possible; there’s children and elderly walking there.’’
He said it ‘‘sounded horrible’’ but the reality was there was very little money.
‘‘It’s those three [places damaged] this time. Next year who knows how many it will be?’’
In the Abel Tasman, Lamason said the track was blocked at Little Anapai, where two slips had come down.
‘‘One of them is the standard slip, another is on a bridge, or The Tasman mayor is asking central Government to step in and support all struggling Golden Bay businesses.
Tasman District Mayor Richard Kempthorne said he had written to five government ministers requesting urgent help for all Golden Bay businesses suffering severe losses.
Takaka Hill Rd was badly damaged by excyclone Gita just over two weeks ago and still has limited access.
Kempthorne met on Sunday with 14 Golden Bay business owners and the Bay’s two councillors Sue Brown and Paul Sangster.
‘‘They gave me a very clear picture of how they are affected’’ he said.
‘‘It’s quite clear I can advocate for the businesses in Golden Bay, not just tourism businesses, but everybody.’’
Kempthorne said he had contacted the Economic Development Minister David Parker, Agricultural Minister Damien O’Connor, Minister of Tourism Kelvin Davis, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Minister of Civil Defence Kris Faafoi.
He said Faafoi had been ‘‘very helpful’’ with recognising the impact.
‘‘He’s seeing that the businesses are significantly affected because of the downturn in patronage and seeking assistance for them. There is a need, and they can they put a package together.
‘‘I will also be following that up.’’ walkway where the footings for that have been affected and there’s a good chance that will go down the hill,’’ he said.
It was currently closed, and staff were working to fix it. Trampers could still walk from Totaranui to Gibbs Hill and on to Whariwharangi.
Up the Cobb Valley Road, from the power house and up to the Cobb Ridge, there was a ‘‘3km swath of severe damage’’ to the road, he said.
‘‘Everyone knows about the bridge at the start of the road being washed out completely, but it’s up on the power house that has some of the most serious significant damage, the entire road is gone.’’
Lamason said the power house was closed. Staff were working hard to clear the water tables and culverts to prevent further loss, and Trustpower was working on the area around the power house.
He said if there was another weather event, ‘‘a hell of a lot more’’ would be lost.
‘‘Trustpower have flown up roading engineers, they’re up there now, developing how we will open the road again, to bring the road back up to 2WD standards.’’