Cape tour operator weighs legal action
A Hawke’s Bay tour company is considering taking legal action after it was told to cease operations at Cape Kidnappers.
Owner of Gannet Beach Adventures, Colin Lindsay, said the company has been struggling financially since the Department of Conservation (DOC) closed its walking track after a cliff collapse last January, leaving two tourists injured.
The pair were walking the track and were not part of Gannet Beach Adventures.
The company of 68 years can no longer run shortened tours to Black Reef and was told to stop operating by DOC on January 14 due to a large crack in the cliff face.
‘‘I understand health and safety is at the forefront of DOC’s operations and we’re no different. We’ve got a really good history to protect and we don’t want to tarnish it.’’
Lindsay said he was considering legal action, but cost was a factor in the decision.
‘‘We are looking into it and have been warned it’s cost prohibitive. We’ve had awesome support from the public and customers, everyone has got in behind us, but no-one can understand why this has happened.’’
DOC understood Gannet Beach Adventures had been ‘‘passing through the Cape Kidnappers Gannet Protection Reserve, which remains closed’’.
However, the claim the company had encroached on the protected reserve was strenuously denied by Lindsay.
Similar to last year, Lindsay said they were considering getting other jobs in order to keep the business afloat.
‘‘It’s a seasonal business, so the winter owner of Gannet Beach Adventures
months would usually be spent doing maintenance and working on business strategies, but that’s all changed.’’
Lindsay said even if the business continued, the fact part of the cliff collapsed had most likely put people off visiting and taking part in tours or walking the track.
‘‘The biggest pill to swallow is the fact DOC have quoted that the reason for closing us was because of this crack in the rock face. It just seems ludicrous that they’ve been supplied a photo and they’ve closed down our business.’’
Lindsay said the crack had been there for ‘‘several’’ years and said when taking people on tours, he would park about 90 metres from it.
‘‘We haven’t driven past that crack since last January, I’m pretty sure it’s been there since 2014,’’ he said.
Despite Gannet Beach Adventures parking well away from the cracked cliff face, DOC said the ‘‘Government Purpose Reserve stretches along the beach from Black Reef for about 1km towards Clifton’’, and there ‘‘is rockfall potential over the entire length of that beach’’.
But Lindsay said people walk down the beach regularly, despite the track’s closure. ‘‘People still cycle out there, people still walk out there, we’re just the easy ones to pick on.’’
DOC Lower North Island operations director Reg Kemper said it suspended Gannet Beach Adventures’ concession to operate due to a ‘‘significant fracture in the rock face’’.
‘‘Until we have a completed Quantitative Risk Assessment, we don’t know the level of risk posed by this fracture, if it is the same as one noted in 2014, if it has worsened etc and if it’s possible for the concessionaire to mitigate these risks.
‘‘DOC acknowledges Gannet Beach Adventures’ frustrations and concerns with the uncertainty around their business while we wait for the QRA to be finalised and peer reviewed.’’
Kemper said once the QRA was final – which was unlikely to be before April – DOC would be ‘‘guided by its findings’’, working with the council and others to determine the course of action regarding the DOC-managed section of the track and any concessions that went with it.
‘‘The biggest pill to swallow is the fact [the Department of Conservation] have quoted that the reason for closing us was because of this crack in the rock face.’’ Colin Lindsay