Herepuru Rd slip: Waka Kotahi to partially pay for repair

Herepuru Rd has been closed since November 18 with the slip continuing to eat away at the road. Photo / Whakatane District Council

A Bay of Plenty road remains closed following a large underslip with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency agreeing to partially pay for the repair.

Herepuru Rd has been closed since November 18 with the slip continuing to eat away at the road.

“The road will remain closed at the slip site as we haven’t been able to find a suitable short-term solution and the underslip is eating away at the road incredibly fast,” Whakatane District Council said in a social media post this week.

“In one week, a further 2.3m of road has slipped away.”

The council said it had met with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency and it had agreed to help pay for the repairs needed.

“At this stage, we don’t have a start date for this repair work as we still have a few things to iron out and work through, but we’ll be back here with an update as soon as we do,” the post said.

Waka Kotahi spokeswoman Natasha Utting confirmed the transport agency would pay 63 per cent of the cost needed for repairs to Herepuru Rd under emergency works provisions.

“A dollar estimate is not available at present. A geotechnical investigation and options assessment will be required before we have an approximate value of the repair cost,” Utting said.

The road closure point is just past the sealed section on the Matatā side of Herepuru Rd.

The last property you can reach from the Matatā side is number 290. Anyone wanting to access properties past there will need to come in from the Manawahe Rd end.