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Angry Northlanders are calling for the Government to fix their roads after weeks of destructive storms.
Because of the extreme weather children in Hokianga can’t go to school – and locals say they’re sick of seeing money go to the Nelson region while the Far North is ignored.
Both areas were hit hard by storms two weeks ago.
READ MORE: Marlborough still dealing with impact of major storm
Even when the roads are closed, North Hokianga residents are traversing them anyway to access shops, beaches, work and food.
West Coast Road is their main link to the Kaitaia township, but it’s been blocked off for two weeks due to cracks and slips.
The risk of the road collapsing is on everybody’s mind.
“We have a geo-tech engineer report which says this fault is between five and ten metres deep, so these people being on here is that they are going to be on this piece of the network when it lets go and that would be almost certain death,” said Far North Deputy Mayor Ann Court.
However, the alternative route adds an extra hour.
“The costing of petrol today, we can’t afford it. You know, we’re pensioners and it’s hard on us. It was worse than this, they must have fixed it up today because we came down here this way this morning,” a resident said.
The damage is keeping the school’s bus from reaching Te Kura Taumata o Panguru.
“If the students can’t get to school by bus and their parents don’t own a car or we don’t have the money for fuel then the students have to stay at home,” said school principal, Mina Pomare-Peita.
State Highway One through the Mangamuka Gorge to Kaitaia has closed indefinitely again due to slips.
“We see the minister and prime minister down there again flying around in helicopters and throwing money around like it’s confetti to help them get out of their troubles,” Court said.
She invited ministers to come up north and survey the damage.
“I’ve been told the minister is busy, I’ve been told the minister has other priorities, I’ve been told that the minister’s diary is full,” she said.
“I have a message for the minister. If 74,000 people in the Far North do not matter to you, would you come up here and tell them that please?”
One local clothing designer has taken a tongue-in-cheek approach to the closed roads with this custom-made t-shirt – “is the gorge open?” It refers to the Mangamuka Gorge and is one of the most commonly asked questions on social media.
The Minister for Emergency Management, Kieran McAnulty, says he’ll be meeting with the council next week, but is yet to find a time to view the roads.
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