Deep cracks in an east Auckland road are causing concern about the impact on residents and the environment should they result in a large amount of silt falling into the water below.
A segment of Marine Parade in Mellons Bay, on the coastal side and adjacent to a grass bank, is impacted by a slip that’s seen one lane blocked to vehicles as cracks in the road continue to widen.
Local building company Faulkner Construction has a project under way on Marine Parade.
Managing director Ross Faulkner says he has major concerns about the potential for the slip to worsen.
“My concern at the moment is access for the neighbourhood to the west of the slip, and if they get cut off,” he told the Times.
“The crack is through the centre of the road and if it goes further than that there’s going to be no way vehicles will get up there.”
Faulkner says his company’s building project on Marine Parade is “halfway through” and it’s scheduled to be finished by Christmas.
“This slip is going now and if the whole bank goes before then we won’t be able to get all our service trucks in there. We’re going to come to a halt.”
He says a slip could take out the main sewer line, “because it’s very close to the slip line”.
“That’s going to be a major problem for anyone who lives up that end of the road, if they haven’t got a sewer line to be able to flush their toilets and have a shower.
“It’s a major failure of the cliff in that particular area and it’s been happening for 25 years.”
Faulkner says he contacted Auckland Transport (AT) via its website in November last year to raise concerns about the slip on Marine Parade, but never heard back.
“I know one of the neighbours has also been on their case.”
He says some repairs that “looked good for the first month” were carried out to the road.
“But then the whole lot started to go again, really badly now. It’s going to be a major issue for the locals.
“It’s a big slip. It’s a whole gully that’s going to go down there and it’s a wide area, probably about 50 metres wide from the road all the way to the cliff face.”
Faulkner is also worried about the potential environmental impact to marine life were the slip to fall into the ocean below.
“I want to know what the council is going to do when the slip comes.
“Are they going to let all that silt slowly disperse into the Hauraki Gulf or the Tamaki Straight?”
AT spokeswoman Natalie Polley says: “Any repair here is not a straightforward fix as there’s still some significant ground movement within this slip site.
“It’s been aggravated by the recent weather and six months of heavy rainfall/extreme weather.
“Our consultants have looked at some possible options we could consider for this slip, but these require further investigation and analysis which we are working on now.
“Marine Parade is under regular monitoring for further deterioration.”
Auckland Council’s Paul Klinac says: “We’re aware of the slip on Marine Parade and do not currently have concerns about debris or silt to the coastal environment.
“However, we’ll continue to monitor and support Auckland Transport, as required.”
