Paritutu closed during clean-up
Abseilers have been scaling the slopes of Paritutu removing rocks before they can fall on people climbing the popular New Plymouth icon.
Contractor David McClay said it was mostly routine maintenance but a fire that ravaged the seafacing side of the rock in February could have contributed to the instability of some areas of the slopes.
‘‘Substantial vegetation is better than none to hold the cliff face together,’’ he said.
‘‘But we haven’t been up there in awhile and it’s something that needs to be done every now and then.’’
McClay and his team were scaling the slopes, starting at the top and working down, chipping away sections of loose stone which have the future potential to slip or crack, especially in heavy rain.
‘‘It’s hard to say how much debris we’ll end up taking off, but I’d estimate between two and four tonnes,’’ he said.
McClay said his team had to work hard to keep the public from climbing the rock while his team are working on it despite the track being officially closed.
‘‘It’s pretty hazardous up there and I think there’s been a few people up there over the weekend,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re just asking the public to be patient, it’s going to be a lot safer once we’re finished.’’
New Plymouth District Council manager of parks and open spaces Stuart Robertson said a member of the public had alerted the council to a potential rockfall on the track.
‘‘We’ve also identified a few other rocks that need to be removed due to wear and tear, and some due to a fire back in February,’’ he said.
‘‘We’d rather remove them now and take away the danger than wait.’’
Robertson said most of the rocks needing to be removed were above the staircase section of the track.
He expected it to be open by Sunday, however bad weather could see it take up to another week.