Parnell cliff faces erosion

It's a site where Auckland's most prestigious hotel once sat, overlooking Rangitoto Island and hosting some of the world's most famous celebrities.
But the White Heron has since been demolished to make way for 19 of the city's most expensive apartments.
Now, Parnell residents are concerned that construction on the 4.4ha block has come at the cost of clifftop trees, leaving the cliff face damaged and exposed to erosion.
Luke Niue, Parnell resident and member of the Parnell Community Committee, is worried the Auckland City Council will not replace the trees that have been ripped down.
``The cliff face is quite significantly damaged and I want to know what the council has got planned to reinstate the cliff to its original state,' he says.
``The cynic in me says they won't do anything because it would detract from the views from the apartments and lower the value. I have seen the damage first-hand so I know it's quite severe. Why have they done what they've done?'
Mr Niue has lived in Parnell for almost a decade and has long campaigned for the council to stop turning quiet streets into busy commercial zones.
He is not against the development, but says the construction should have been done in a way that didn't damage the surrounding environment.
``If you compare photos of the cliff face today to those taken a few years back you'd see that the comparison is quite stark,' he says.
``There used to be a huge amount of vegetation, now there's just tree stumps and bare soil that will just wear away in heavy rain.'
Auckland City Council responded to questions by The Aucklander saying: ``There has been subsidence of this cliff for some time, including some prior to the commencement of the development.'
Only one pohutakawa tree had been removed and that was because of previous slips and regular erosion before any works happened on the site, the council said.
A requirement of the consent was that a replacement tree be planted somewhere on the site. However, it did not have to be the cliff face.
``The unstable nature of the cliff face makes it unsuitable for large trees.' The owners of the site did not return calls from The Aucklander.
Three separate sites were known collectively as the White Heron in its heyday - the hotel, the neighbouring site of colonial Rodean House and villas across the road where entertainment entrepreneur Sir Robert Kerridge hosted the visiting rich and famous.
The new apartments are expected to house up to 45 people and are priced between $1.75 million and $4.15 million each.