Reopening of roads a priority for rural Tararua community

Wednesday, 1 March 2023

A bridge on Owāhanga Station in rural Tararua was destroyed by floodwaters during Cyclone Gabrielle.

Residents at an isolated Tararua community are desperate for full access to be restored to the area.

A section of Coast Rd, from Pongaroa to Ākitio, which runs through the Marainanga Gorge, was destroyed during Cyclone Gabrielle two weeks ago, cutting off a vital access road.

There is still access to Ākitio via River Rd and an unsealed road, Beach Hill Rd, which some residents don’t like using for safety reasons.

People who lived in the area spoke at the Tararua District Council meeting on Wednesday calling for action.

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Dan Ramsden said having the road open was essential for his farming operations and others on Coast Rd, especially as Beach Hill Rd could easily close.

Many people in the area who had trucks and diggers were doing work themselves clearing slips and opening roads.

The road through Marainanga Gorge to Ākitio has been destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle.

“We’re going to run out of fuel very shortly,” he said. “The fishing people at the beach are giving us access to some of their diesel. It won’t last.

“The gorge won’t be open in a month, but we need to know something is going to happen before the winter.”

He said it was a big area that didn’t have cell coverage and landlines weren’t working.

“It’s vital to have access and communication on the coast.”

Mark Wheeler lives on Coast Rd and he said reopening roads needed to be a priority, as some now were only accessible to 4WD.

What had been a 15-minute drive now took 90 minutes.

“Access needs to be reliable and open to all classes of vehicle and should be established as soon as possible to that end of the road.”

He said fuel, fencing supplies and other equipment needed for repairs had to get in, Pongaroa businesses would suffer and the road closure was affecting Pongaroa School because the bus route previously collected children on the eastern side of the slip.

Farmers needed access for livestock movement and many were looking at destocking over the winter because they had lost pasture.

With Coast Rd through Marainanga Gorge to Ākitio destroyed, residents want to see access restored.

He said Marainanga Gorge could end up being the area’s Manawatū Gorge.

Angela Pullen also lived on the Coast Rd and she said a lot of people in the area were affected by the road closure: 70 baches, a campground, two shops and marae.

“It is an integral part of the Tararua.”

She said it was a necessity the gorge was reinstated for things such as supplying fuel or ambulance access.

“I think the council and all of us here today have a duty of care to the community.We need a safety net.”

Aohanga Incorporation has a farm, Owāhanga Station, and two marae at the end of Coast Rd.

Chairman Robin Potangaroa said they supported anything that got the road open so they could get back to business as usual.

The marae weren’t touched by flooding, but the farm had suffered severe damage.

One of the farm’s bridges had been knocked out and 7.5km of fencing on the farm had been destroyed. Generators had to be flown out to the farm.

Mayor Tracey Collis said the Government taskforce had not yet set the terms for repair work, but it was going to require hard discussions about future proofing infrastructure.

“In Tararua [its] estimated that it could be anywhere between $75 to $100 million.”

A third of the district, 145,000 hectares of land, had been affected. Collis would like to see it fully funded by the Government.

The council’s Three Waters transition manager Peter Wimsett also spoke about the declaration of a state of emergency in the region.

He said in a three-hour period when the cyclone hit, 95.6mm of rain was recorded at the Ākitio monitoring station.

“A pretty intense rate. By the time 72 hours had passed it had gone up to 328mm.”