Source: Radio New Zealand
A slip on State Highway 2 through the Waioweka Gorge. Supplied/NZTA
Farmers on the East Coast are worried about how long it will take to reopen storm-damaged State Highway 2.
A large part of the Waioweka Gorge – which connects Gisborne/Tai Rāwhiti and Bay of Plenty – has been closed for just over a week, after heavy rain on 16 January caused about 40 slips.
New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said it was going to take several weeks to clear the road.
But farmers were concerned taking the long detour to avoid the Waioweka Gorge closure raised animal welfare issues and put extra costs on farmers.
One of the slips blocking State Highway 2 through Waioeka Gorge. Supplied
Federated Farmers’ Gisborne/Wairoa president Charlie Reynolds said it was no longer acceptable for the region not to have access through the gorge.
“The East Coast needs a plan B,” he said.
“Long-term, NZTA really need to have a really, really serious look at their road managements and rebuilding programmes, because we can’t handle this every 18 months, 36 months.”
He said the area needed a resilient road network.
“NZTA and the government really need to consider a seriously decent plan B if the [Waioweka] Gorge gets wiped out through slips or something, because we can’t have animals sitting on trucks for 10, 12, 16 hours going south to then go north.”
One of the slips blocking State Highway 2 through Waioeka Gorge. Supplied
Chief executive of industry group Transporting New Zealand, Dom Kalasih, supported the call to improve resilience of the country’s roads.
“One of the impacts is these increased costs,” he said. “The detour, say Whakatane through to Gisborne, it’s an additional just over 200km. Time and money, that is a significant increase.”
NZTA was approached for comment.
Meanwhile, one of the country’s largest vegetable growers Leaderbrand said it had managed to get its produce out of the area via the road south.
It said while there had been a lot of rain, its produce was looking good and it was not expecting any shortages of broccoli or salad greens.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
