'Worse than Covid': Coromandel lashes out over highway fix

Friday, 7 April 2023

With no fix for the broken highway over the Coromandel range before Christmas, isolated residents fear they are being abandoned to become “ghost towns”.

They’re now pushing for ongoing support and a firmer deadline to get State Highway 25A, the main arterial onto the east coast of the peninsula, flowing again.

The SH25A slip began with cracks in the road after Cyclone Hale in early January before worsening during a “long, wet, tough summer” with consecutive storms, including cyclone Gabrielle in February.

Businesswoman Andrea Johnson says the impact has been “worse than Covid”.

**READ MORE:

* Decision on fix for SH25A's crater-sized slip due by May

* Death of a highway: Slips on SH25A turn holiday hotspot into 'forgotten peninsula'

* Thames-Coromandel recovery effort set to be 'very long and very expensive'

**

Johnson, who runs Hera in Pauanui and Manaia Kitchen and Bar in Tairua, has been in business for 20 years. Now, with revenue slashed due to fewer visitors, she’s never seen it so bad, and believes that businesses should be compensated.

“It’s a critical situation, worse than in the pandemic. At least then, we had subsidies to get by. Now people aren’t visiting like they used to, it’s harder to find staff. Fuel and supplies are more with the longer distance to travel, and people like me are just wondering, is it all worth it? Even though we love what we do.”

Easter weekend would usually be as busy as summer, but Johnson fears Aucklanders and Hamiltonians may not take the longer trip over.

”Then we have to get through winter. We really need support. Or do they just want to forget about us and turn us into ghost towns?”

The road closure is also affecting everyday life of residents. Johnson’s grandchildren face a daily four-hour round trip from Tairua to Hauraki Plains School.

While Coromandel residents were “reluctantly resolved” when transport agency Waka Kotahi said in February it would take up to a year to fix State Highway 25A, they were alarmed when transport Minister Michael Wood told a meeting of local leaders last week that he couldn’t guarantee it would be open by Christmas.

This sparked Andy Loader, chair of lobby group Primary Land Users, to pen an open letter to Wood, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, Waka Kotahi and a host of business leaders, highlighting “the critical state of emergency” the road closure was causing.

Coromandel businesses, residents and the farming community wanted action, he said, with the road closure having a huge effects on businesses, people getting to health appointments, animal welfare issues with transportation of stock and getting milk out to process, and receiving essential daily supplies including fuel.

”It’s killing business. People are at breaking point, close to going under with whole livelihoods at stake… People are angry – these are ‘can do’ people who when they see a problem, they fix it. So they’re understandably frustrated that the repair is taking so long because of what seems to be red tape bureaucracy.”

A temporary bypass seemed the obvious solution to Loader.

“I’ve been contacted by contractors who know the road who said that a single lane bypass with a loose metal surface could be built very quickly as has happened on the East Coast … This is a critical state of emergency for the area. There is no time for bureaucrats to pontificate on processes.”

His appeal to the Government received an automatic reply from Wood’s office, stating the transport minister was taking a minimum of two months to reply to correspondence.

“What’s he doing? Fiddling while Rome burns.”

Taking time could turn deadly, he said.

An ambulance from Whitianga took three hours to get Russell Lloyd’s mother to Thames Hospital, with her vomiting all the way and dangerously high blood pressure as they traversed the winding alternative to SH25A.

She declared it “the worst trip of her life”.

“The East Coast has had it far worse with loss of life, but the road situation could lead to the same thing here,” said Lloyd.

With the slip only on one stretch of the highway, Lloyd agrees there should be a temporary bypass.

“Government have got blinkers on if they can’t see how badly it’s affecting people. Even things like we had to cancel my mother’s 84th birthday party because people couldn’t get to Whitianga. They may seem small things, but it’s disrupting lives. Are people even going to make it to see their families at Easter?”

Destination Coromandel general manager Hadley Dryden was hopeful Easter would be busy if the weather held out.

”March figures are looking up, and the return of international visitors was a boost, but the region will still be down on numbers because of the road… We need to keep pressure on for a fix as soon as possible.”

To lose another summer would be “a hard pill to swallow”, he said.

But they’ll have to, as Waka Kotahi’s Jo Wilton said the road will not be ready by Christmas.

It was a priority to rebuild as quickly and efficiently as possible, conscious of the community’s sacrifices.

Three options (retain, bridge or bypass) were being assessed for risks, cost, form and time required to build, and the plan would be announced next month.

The steep topography at the SH25A Taparahi site doesn’t allow temporary access for regular vehicles, she said.

Access routes were formed for drilling rigs and only viable for machinery with tracks, she said. And any temporary staging installed would be at risk if the slip fell further.

There were also trade-offs to consider – such as the time it takes to investigate and design a short-term fix versus the impact on the construction programme for the long-term solution.

Coromandel MP Scott Simpson would continue to “push the Government, NZTA and our council to move far more quickly,” he said.

Loader’s letter summed up “the frustration, increasing desperation and anger being expressed by so many people, be they Coromandel locals or visitors”.

People in the region were “hurt, isolated and inconvenienced”, he said.

“The question put to NZTA should not be ‘how long do you think it’s going to take to fix it’ but rather ‘this road is of vital importance and needs to be open again before Christmas, how are you going to make sure that happens and what resources do you need to achieve it?’ Currently, it seems that it’s NZTA calling the shots and setting the timelines, not government or council.”

Transport Minister Michael Wood said while he acknowledged the challenges faced by the Coromandel community, “we can’t sacrifice safety or resilience by rushing this complex process”.

The Government was providing any necessary funding and passing emergency legislation to accelerate the rebuild, he said.

“I’ve committed to continuing to work alongside the council, businesses, and agencies to support businesses and residents through this summer.”

Thames-Coromandel District mayor Len Salt said while the Government was not holding back resources to re-open the road, it would be “realistically not by Christmas”.

Wood committed to more support for businesses to get through until the road was reopened, Salt said.

Meanwhile, the Coromandel was still open for business.

This was echoed by Sue Lewis-O’Halloran, chief executive of the Thames Business Association.

“Easter Weekend is traditionally the last big visitor spend weekend before winter, and we are rolling out the welcome mat around the entire peninsula. There is a very big event coming, two weeks later, to Whitianga – Waka Ama National Championships – this will engage the entire peninsula, as we welcome more than 2500 competitors and likely an equal number of supporters.

“It will take slightly longer to reach Whitianga, due to SH25A being closed, however, the peninsula’s communities are open for business.”

“Urgent, ongoing action is needed, along with additional resources, to help us through these extraordinarily challenging times.”

With her two restaurants open this Easter weekend, Andrea Johnson says this support needs to be financial.

“That is what we need to survive.”