'Massive disruption' around Coromandel's slip-struck SH25A and no timeline for fix - Minister

Thursday, 2 February 2023

The landslide that closed SH25A on the Coromandel Peninsula was 'a big deal' before it doubled in size overnight, Minister of Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty said.

Cracks in an important Coromandel route have developed into a colossal landslide that left a minister gobsmacked – and the earth is still moving.

Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty was in the Coromandel on Thursday to survey recent storm damage and said “you had to see [SH25A] to believe it”.

“We saw the pictures and we knew it was a big deal, but for that to double in size in one day and for it still to be moving - we’re talking about an event which is going to cause massive disruption to this region. It’s going to take a long time to fix, and we won't know how long until the earth stops moving.”

After visiting SH25A, Kieran McAnulty said he couldn't believe what he’d seen and that it was “extraordinary' how much the slip had grown.

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The slip at the summit of SH25A on February 2. The site is still moving, Waka Kotahi said.

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'The Coromandel is in a touch-and-go situation,” Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said during a visit on Thursday.

But the site was still moving and, until the land was stable enough, contractors and engineers could only wait.

McAnulty had no estimate of the cost to repair, but he was looking to work with other ministers and the local civil defence to find solutions.

Cracks in key Coromandel road SH25A fast turned into a slip that is still growing. It's 'extraordinary' and no-one can say when it'll be fixed, Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty said. Video first published February 2 2023.

'It is very clear that the Coromandel is in a touch-and-go situation here, we've got isolated communities, we've got roads simply aren't passable at the moment,” McAnulty said.

SH25A has been plagued since mid-January, when cracks appeared and it was temporarily closed, then reopened under stop-go management.

It was closed again on Friday, when Waka Kotahi advised heavy rain was “causing further instability” at the summit.

The existing cracks soon widened and a “significant collapse” followed, with Coromandel MP Scott Simpson warning it could be unusable “for months”.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency had begun to assess the damage from a distance, and regional relationships director David Speirs said it had been a “trying time”.

Once they could safely access the area they would start a geotechnical investigation to determine the the best long-term fix for the site.

”It will be a very large job to restore the road… We don’t know how long at this stage, the site is still quite dynamic,” Speirs said.

They were conscious of the pressing urgency to gain access again to what was described as a “lifeline” route for those in the region but asked for leniency towards their staff.