Plea to reopen road
Ruby Bay resident and shop owner Carol Cromie has pleaded with Tasman District Council to clear and reopen a slip-affected section of Stafford Drive.
A 530m section of the road under the Ruby Bay bluffs has been closed since August 18 due to multiple slips covering the former highway.
They came down onto Stafford Drive during a four-day storm that hammered the Nelson-Tasman region.
Part of the Ruby Coast Scenic Route, Stafford Drive usually has an average of 1775 traffic movements a day including vehicles driven by visitors.
‘‘There’s normally so many tourists,’’ Cromie said.
She and her husband, Kester Macfarlane, had owned 170-174 Stafford Drive for 20 years. The property includes three shops – Ruby Bay Kitchen and the adjoining HairLounge Ruby Bay, both leased businesses – along with the revamped Ruby Bay Store.
‘‘My husband, Kester, died ... on October 11, so it’s left to me to make a plea on behalf of our business tenants, our own Ruby Bay Store and our community,’’ says Cromie in correspondence she sent this week to the council.
Ruby Bay Kitchen and the hair salon were both in their seventh year and ‘‘sorely affected’’ by the closure of Stafford Drive.
The revitalised Ruby Bay Store was Macfarlane’s ‘‘last ambitious project in a lifetime of ambitious projects’’, Cromie said, adding his funeral was held in the property.
‘‘His plan was to turn it into a community-oriented tearooms as in years long gone, with a boutique theatre, a garden for patrons, a gallery, even a vintage retail pod.’’
After a year’s time and effort – much of it voluntary – and money including a grant from Manatu¯ Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, the store had been ‘‘upcycled, with a
‘‘There’s normally so many tourists.’’
Carol Cromie
commercial kitchen and accessible toilets added’’. The theatre side of the enterprise was officially opened in July and was ‘‘going gangbusters’’, Cromie said. The aim was to open the tearooms in the new year.
‘‘But for Ruby Bay Store to work for the community, it must also work as a commercial enterprise,’’ she said. ‘‘We rely on through traffic, passing trade and, of course, thousands of summer tourists.’’
Ratepayers knew the council had a lot of debt. ‘‘Clearing the [slips] and reclaiming the road . . . will cost but the council has cheerfully invested ratepayers’ dollars heavily in commercialising the likes of Ma¯pua Wharf,’’ Cromie said.
As coastal dwellers, the residents of Ruby Bay were ‘‘hardly blind to the effects of climate change and rising seas’’.
‘‘We’re designated a coastal hazard zone, affecting us in so many economic ways,’’ Cromie said. ‘‘The TDC should not now be fobbing us off with forebodings of future risk and liability. Council’s focus in deciding the road’s fate should be on bringing communities together, not cutting them off from one another.’’
A geotechnical risk assessment report on the slip-affected area of Stafford Drive, prepared for the council, says options to either close the road or reclaim it had ‘‘economic and societal impacts’’.
Ruby Bay Beach was growing in popularity while new houses were being built on either side of closed section of road.
Council transportation manager Jamie McPherson said the council had heard from many in the community who would like the road to reopen, as well as from some who would prefer it remain closed.
While the council was aware the situation was creating issues for the local community, ‘‘unfortunately there are no simple solutions’’.
‘‘Deciding on a way forward with this stretch of road is a significant decision for the council and is likely to have an impact on the local community,’’ McPherson said.
To support this decision-making, council officers were gathering reports and seeking peer reviews and further expert advice.
‘‘We have to ensure reasoned and wellinformed decisions, which best manages risk and ultimately cost for the council and the community, are made.’’
Meanwhile, a change.org online petition started by Tony Robson-Burrell, of Ruby Bay Kitchen, that calls for the road to be reopened, had more than 1300 signatures by 3pm yesterday.