Upper Hutt house not in danger from slip - NZTA

An Upper Hutt man whose house is 10 metres from a slip is being assured the home is not in any danger.

The slip, which came down just before midday, blocked both lanes on State Highway 2 at Te Marua before it was cleared.

Homeowner Kevin Jones said the slip could have been prevented if the New Zealand Transport Agency had extended a concrete support across the hillside. He says he has been trying to get in touch with the agency for months about the issue, but no-one has returned his calls.

Mark Owen from the NZTA says they have no record of the calls.

"From our perspective there's been no threat to the house at this stage. We've sent our geotechnical engineers up there to assess the risk and they've determined the areas that are unstable. We've bought those down and basically now it's just sort of a clear up mode," Mr Owen said.

Mr Owen says a geotechnical engineer has met with Mr Jones in an attempt to alleviate his concerns.

Earlier, Mr Jones rushed home from work at lunchtime to find his house 10m away from the edge of the slip.

Police closed both lanes near the Te Marua Lakes earlier today after the large slip blocked the southbound lane.

Mr Jones said he planned to return home with his wife and three of his seven children tonight.

"(NZTA) is ultimately responsible for this slip and they don't seem to be very concerned at all, everyone else seems to be concerned about it - so I'm left a little bit in no man's land now," Mr Jones said earlier today.

NZTA owned the land that slipped and Mr Jones said a concrete support across part of the hill should have been extended, which would have stopped the slip from happening.

"It's probably just a matter of time before there was going to be a problem and of course here we are."

He said he'd tried to call the agency "for months" but nobody had returned his calls, he said.

The area was due for heavy rain tonight and tomorrow, which could endanger his house further, Mr Jones said.

"Fingers crossed we'll be here tomorrow."

- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF