Whangārei district is open for business this Waitangi weekend despite a state of emergency still potentially being in place on Friday for its popular north-east coastal beach settlements.
By Susan Botting of Local Democracy Reporting
Whangārei Deputy Mayor Scott McKenzie said the usual influx of holidaymakers who made their way into Whangārei district was welcome.
He said that also included Whangaruru coast holiday places such as Ōakura, Bland Bay and Teal Bay.
These are among popular bach settlements on the Whangaruru coastline hit by a weather bomb on January 17 and 18 when a summer’s worth of rain fell on the area.
A state of emergency was put in place across Whangārei district on January 20. This shrank in area to just the Whangārei District Council’s Hikurangi-Coastal ward when that initial declaration was extended on January 27 until 4pm on Tuesday, February 3.
Officials will meet tomorrow to decide whether to extend the state of emergency further or transition to a recovery phase.
McKenzie said people were welcome to Whangaruru coast, even if the state of emergency was still in place.
He said holidaymakers should however be respectful and considerate of those who had been impacted, some quite badly.
Visitors trying to get to their baches and holiday accommodation would however have to travel on a preferred alternate route into the area from the north.
This involved State Highway 1, then SH11 and included a trip on the Opua to Russell ferry in the Bay of Islands before hitting the northern end of Russell Rd and clear bach settlement access.
A huge slip on Helena Bay HIll blocking Russell Rd is not expected to be cleared for several months.
Travel times from Whangārei to Ōakura will more than double with the recommended alternate northern access.
The northern end of Russell Rd begins near Russell township.
This longer route takes 2.5 hours to get from Whangārei to Ōakura, compared with about an hour normally via the now landslide-blocked Russell Rd.
A secondary northern route choice into the affected area via SH1 then SH11 and Karetu/Waikare Rd takes two hours. But extreme caution is required on a largely gravel road that is not suitable for people who aren’t used to country driving.
Meanwhile residents and priority light vehicles only can get into the weather-hit area via Kaiikanui Rd but face time delays.
McKenzie said it was important people realised that Helena Bay Galley and Cafe were still open, despite the Russell Rd closure.
He said the road closure began on the seaward side of the gallery. Therefore, access to the popular attraction was fine. The business was still open.
A Whangārei Civil Defence spokesperson said Kaiikanui Rd had multiple slips, was narrow and had steep drop offs making it highly unsuitable for truck and trailer units, caravans, boat trailers or heaving camping and holiday traffic.
The spokesperson said this route should be used for essential travel only. It should not be used by those who were not confident driving on a gravel road.
Kaiikanui Rd’s traffic management has been beefed up.
Pilot vehicle programme kicks off
What is Whangārei’s biggest pilot vehicle programme kicked off on Kaiikanui Rd on Monday with convoys of about 20 vehicles each time heading one way at a time only, north or south.
The half-hour journey convoys travel is along about 15km of the road’s most challenging area which is single-laned in places.
The northbound convoys will leave the southern departure point at the intersection of Kaiikanui, Whananaki and Pigs Head roads between 7am to 6pm depending on volume.
The southbound convoys will leave the northern starting point of the route. This is at the southern end of the tarseal on the Webb Rd departure point between 7.30am and 6.30pm, depending on volume.
'Used to waiting in Auckland traffic'
Drivers waiting for the next northbound convoys departure were philosophical on Monday about the travel delays.
In Punarauku, Richard Wynyard was heading back from Waikato to continue renovating the family home he is moving to, with floodwaters that cut off his home two weeks ago now gone.
Tradesmen Brad Innes, Mike Kok and Tyson Robertson had not known the piloted convoys were in place before arriving at the southern departure point from Auckland in their two small trucks.
The trio was heading to the Bay of Islands’ Parekura Bay to install artificial turf for a helipad there.
“We’re used to waiting in Auckland traffic,” Robertson said.
Meanwhile a resident, who did not want to be named, said he had allowed extra time to make his trip into the area to attend a funeral at Bland Bay.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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