A popular Auckland beach stairway ‒ known locally as the "stairs of doom" ‒ could be destroyed after efforts to repair it hit a snag.
By Torika Tokalau for Local Democracy Reporting
The Kennedy Park stairs in Castor Bay have been closed to the public for more than three years after Cyclone Gabrielle damaged the lower flights of the steps.
It’s the second time the stairs have been damaged by a storm ‒ the first in 2017.
A site assessment found that any remedial work to the current structure was too risky as the cliff was unstable.
The staircase sits where two cracks in the earth meet and twisted rock layers nearby made it susceptible to slips.
The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board had high hopes of re-opening the stairs at the end of this year, in time for summer.
At a workshop on Tuesday, they were told that was no longer possible.
Local board chair Trish Deans said it appeared that the Kennedy Park stairs had reached their end point.
“To me, even if you try and rebuild, it’s unsafe for people on it.”
In 2024 the board chose a targeted repair on the stairs, that would have cost $330,000, mostly funded through insurance.
The repairs would have included storm water management down the cliff face, enhanced monitoring and maintenance, and a lockable gate, as well as risk-warning signage to manage public safety during severe weather.
Parks and community facilities project manager Mohammed Sarwar said that was no longer a viable option.
Their investigations identified significant design, environmental, and affordability constraints.
A targeted repair would only restore the lower flights, but not address major under-slips and undermined piles, leaving high residual slope and structural risk.
Sarwar said the proposed stormwater design would require excavation and vegetation removal, that could increase soil erosion.
Tree root systems that helped keep the cliff edge stable would be compromised, he said.
“The resource consent and building consent documentation has been completed, but has not been lodged yet because we are concerned with the stormwater design and how to move forward,” Sarwar said.
The board’s only other options for the Kennedy Park stairs was a comprehensive repair, which could cost close to $1 million, or have it destroyed and removed.
Geotechnical Engineer Gaurav Mathur said the soil around the structure was very unstable.
“The structure at the moment is fine, but it’s the ground around it which is actually moving or will move. We’ve got these massive rainfall events, so that’s what we’re trying to mitigate.”
Sarwar said officers had looked at every option for the stairs, including building a new stairway at the left of the current structure on the cliff, but any renewal or rebuild would fail in the future.
“Very recently, when we had a site visit, we noticed while walking down the left side, we saw the ground moving, there’s cracks. That means there is a possibility of future slips in that area.”
He said if the local board wanted to save the stairway, it would come down to costs and if saving the feature was worth the thousands put into it.
“Given the community interest and the importance of this, we did try our best to do all the possible investigations to prepare this and have the stairs re-open for the community immediately.”
The stairs are known affectionately as the "stairs of doom" by local fitness fans, who enjoy the challenge of traversing the steep flights of stairs from the clifftop, down to the coast.
“It’s very unfortunate I understand, but these are the options we have in front of us ‒ it’s either too expensive, risky, get rid of it, or plan for something new.”
Deans said she was very worried about the risks involved.
“The risk is very high, what we’re experiencing in severe weather events, and risk for people.”
No decision was made on the stairs future, but the board asked Sarwar’s team to further investigate other access options to the beach, in the next financial year.
“The reality of what’s happening in our cliff faces, up and down the coast, points us in that direction.”
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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