Two tourists were injured after Cape Kidnappers partially crumbled on January 23 2019. Photo / Supplied
Two tourists were injured after Cape Kidnappers partially crumbled on January 23 2019. Photo / Supplied
When two tourists were injured during a landslide along Cape Kidnappers, it changed the way New Zealand tourism operated.
A year to the day since the slip that left two Korean tourists hospitalised, the remnants of the incident remain firmly in place.
The iconic cliff face, which crumbled at about2.30pm on January 23 2019, still remains partially closed after a Hastings District Council and Department of Conservation (DoC)-commissioned report assessed the risk levels.
The Quantitative Risk Analysis (QRA) report, which was due to be completed by October last year, was originally delayed because of weather conditions and a need to recapture drone survey information, according to DoC.
Hastings District Council opened Clifton Beach in June last year, but DoC refused to do the same with its track to the famous gannet colony in the upper reaches of the Cape until it had gone over the findings of the risk assessment.
The report remains in draft form and further work is needed to determine the level of risk to people travelling along the beach.
DOC Lower North Island operations director Reg Kemper has previously said: "As a responsible manager of public land, visitor safety has to remain our top priority and we need to make sure we have a clear grasp of the risks before we can make any decision about reopening the reserve".
Tukituki National MP Lawrence Yule previously accused the DoC of "incompetence and bullying tactics" and claims it's "ruining" local businesses.
Gannet Beach Adventures, which reportedly had 68 passengers on-board the tour that day, has only earned three weeks since the accident, according company owner Colin Lindsay.
The Cape Kidnappers tour operator has since had to stop all tours after the DoC reversed a decision to allow shortened tours to the gannet colonies causing the closure of his business.
Angus Gordon said he is "really disappointed" in the way DoC has treat Gannet Beach Adventures. Photo / Paul Taylor
Fellow local business owner Angus Gordon, who is the fifth generation of his family to farm at Cape Kidnappers' Clifton Station, said he's "really disappointed" in the way DoC has treat Gannet Beach Adventures.
"Gannet Beach Adventures have always had a very clean record," he said. "But everyone now thinks Cape Kidnappers is a dangerous place thanks to DoC.
With a diluted visitor count to the famous peninsula, Gordon worries about all the local businesses.
"It is affecting everyone as there are not as many people down there now," he said. "We've been around the Cape all our lives and we've been here for 160 years and there's never been a death that we're aware of."
