Barriers and warning signs across the entrance to the track have not stopped some people from accessing the track. Photo / Aston Palmer
Despite security fencing and signs warning of “extreme danger”, some people are still risking the West End to Ōtarawairere Bay section of Ngā Tapuwai o Toi.
The popular walking track leading to Ōhope Beach’s most famed lookout point has been closed since a slip in 2022.
This was followed by a second slip in 2023 before the first was able to be repaired.
Local democracy reporting looked into reports that members of the public had been instigating their own tracks on the hillside.
Extensive digging into the hillside was evident, effectively reinstating a track. The photographer who took the attached photos reported the track to be easily accessible by walking around the fence, though it was quite slippery and did not feel very safe for the average person.
Whakatāne District Council community experience general manager Alexandra Pickles said the council was not aware of any unauthorised works being carried out on the walkway until Local Democracy Reporting’s inquiry prompted an investigation.
“Significant work has been undertaken on the track without the council’s knowledge or approval, which is alarming,” she said.
“The West End section of the track is currently closed. Whoever carried out this work did so not only without permission, but in deliberate disregard of that closure. This behaviour is reckless and unacceptable. It put not only themselves in danger but poses significant safety risks to others who may access it in future.”
Pickles said the council would be actively investigating the matter and taking action where appropriate.
“We are asking anyone with information about who may be responsible to please come forward.”
A volunteer group has been petitioning the council to be allowed to reinstate the track at no expense to the council.
The group is led by long-time Ōhope resident Austin Oliver, and Angus Robson, who is also involved in a project to make changes to Awatapu Lagoon using volunteers.
Oliver said he was aware people had been doing work on the track without permission from the council, ever since it was lost.
“A few people from West End have just been chewing away at the track, making it easier to get through. We can’t control that. We actually went and put some barriers over it just to keep people safe.”
Thanks to an anonymous donor, the volunteer group have been able to commission award-winning track engineering company Frame Group to design a track repair.
It has also enlisted the help of a qualified health and safety consultant to create a health and safety plan.
It has been offered the use of Kahu’s Black Hawk helicopter for free to lift materials into place.
However, Oliver said he felt no closer to receiving permission from the council to reinstate the track than he was a year ago.
The council has made a request for proposal, seeking “suitably capable and experienced community-led groups or organisations to enable the reinstatement of the track or establish an alternative route”.
“We are seeking a solution that responds appropriately to the complex geotechnical, environmental, cultural and health and safety challenges of the site, and that can be delivered and maintained without reliance on council funding,” the request for proposal states.
“The council keep talking about it as a really big job,” Oliver said. “In actual fact, it’s not. Looking at the track, from what we’ve seen, it’s been repaired many times over the years and it really worries me that we will lose that track for good.”
He said the mayor and councillors had been supportive of the group reinstating the track.
At a meeting of the council’s projects and services committee on February 19, staff had recommended not funding the reinstatement of the walkway.
The council was also asked to pass seven motions to note findings of several geotechnical reports from consultants, particularly around the likelihood of further slips, and other implications for future reinstatement works on the walkway.
As well as voting to make a request for proposals, the council voted to ask staff to investigate the availability of funding granted by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment after the first slip in 2022 to support the project.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.