Minor slip cleared at Ōtaki Gorge Road

The clean-up is complete from the minor slip on Ōtaki Gorge Road over the weekend.

Council contractors cleared about 150 cubic metres of debris from the slip-prone Blue Bluff, which is about 13 kilometres inland from State Highway 1.

The slip material came down overnight on Saturday and just covered the road as barriers caught the majority of it.

Contractors cleared the slip on Sunday, reopened the road for the end of the weekend, and revisited the slip site again today [August 22] to complete any extra clean-up required on the slope.

Because Blue Bluff is an active area, Council is continuing to carefully monitor and manage the site.
This weekend’s small slip was near to same spot where a large slip occurred after floods in June 2015, which led to a seven-month road closure to private property and popular recreational facilities within the Tararua Forest Park.

Council has since completed extensive earthworks at site on Ōtaki Gorge Road, meaning the public can access Ōtaki Forks again. However the work won’t guarantee slips may not happen again, but is part of the on-going management of the slope to help reduce the risk of future road closures.