Council to look at issue of risky Falls

Omanawa Falls

The dangerous lure of one of the Bay's beauty spots could become a major talking point for the Tauranga City Council next year.

People were regularly risking serious injury or death by descending into the scenic Omanawa Falls, with tourist publicity and TV series The Bachelor NZ both raising the profile of the falls.

Council's parks and recreation team leader Warren Aitken said they were looking at a number of options to get people safely down to the base of the falls, and working out which ones were feasible.

A 38-year-old man and his 12-year-old son were badly injured last January when they fell down a steep hillside trying to climb out of the falls. They were attempting to get around the locked metal door at the top of the tunnel that led to the Omanawa Falls power station.

The issue for the council, which owns the underground power station and its access down from Omanawa Rd, has been trying to protect people from themselves.

It has been unsuccessful in preventing people reaching the falls via a track and ladders around the top by the station's water intake, emerging at the deck next to the powerhouse. The most dangerous part of the access was a 70-degree slope ending with a 12m fall onto rocks.

Gates and fences erected by the council to the track had proven no barrier to determined young people for whom the pool at the bottom of the falls was an irresistible attraction.

Mr Aitken said they would continue to try to restrict access to the falls this summer until the council had ruled on the feasibility of options.

He said public safety was a major concern even if people were allowed to access the powerhouse deck via the steep narrow steps through the tunnel. There was also the issue of the drop down from the deck to the pool.

Power station lessee Michael Davis said he could not believe the risk that young people were taking to reach the bottom of the falls.