Landslip 'cure' ruining Lion Rock, say Piha residents

Repairs to a coastal landmark are having their own impact, reports WAYNE THOMPSON.

Lion Rock, the icon of Auckland's wild west coast beaches, is being mauled by the ravages of landslides - and work by its guardian, the Auckland Regional Council, is not helping, say Piha residents.

Their fears for the 101m rock have been raised by work to repair a section of a walkway swept away by a landslide 15 months ago.

The work has involved a team of abseilers clearing 30 tonnes of loose rock from above the missing section of the walkway.

Holes have been drilled to anchor large slabs of rock with 21 stainless steel bolts, each 3.5m long.

A thousand people a day climb the rock during a holiday weekend for its views of the coastline and of large modern homes nestled in the hills above Piha beach.

Since the landslide last November 23, about two-thirds the way up the rock, walkers have been turned back halfway up the walkway by barbed wire barricades and keep-out signs.

Bach owner Jan O'Connor, who has been going to Piha for 56 years, said yesterday that she felt the rock had taken enough punishment - from nature and humans.

"I think they should put a stop to the work.

"I wonder at the impact of all this work.

"New slips happen while they are putting in new steps."

Mrs O'Connor said the rock was being transformed by highly visible new steps down from the damaged section.

The president of the Piha Residents and Ratepayers Association, Yvonne Duffaur, said residents felt the track should end at the half-way mark.

"There are other high lookout spots at the beach," she said.

Residents were angry that they were not consulted about the work.



"The first we knew of it was when a helicopter dumped a drilling compressor on the summit."

The chairman of the regional council parks committee, Bill Burrill, said the amount of work needed to repair the track and make the area around it safe was more than was estimated.

Work had been halted for two weeks so an engineer could evaluate the project and report to the committee next month.



He said the cost of the work was a worry and he could not put a figure on it until he had seen the engineer's report.

"We, on the parks committee, are caught between a rock and a hard place, because whether we stop work or carry on, the public will continue to climb past the barricades to try to reach the top.

"My concern is for the safety of all who use the park.

"It's easy to say stop work and then have somebody fall off. Lots of people feel driven to climb to the top."

Park ranger John Maddison said the rock had not been disfigured by work, except for the drilled bolt holes.

But sections of track below the area under repair had been damaged by a bombardment of falling rocks.