State Highway 35 opened this morning, after the closure between Pōtaka and Te Araroa isolated the communities in between.
The road restoration reconnects Tairāwhiti to the eastern Bay of Plenty, three weeks after heavy rainfall and flooding caused slips above and below the road. While the road is now open, it remains fragile, and people are urged to take extreme care.
Only days earlier, Te Ao Māori News spoke to Taiarahia Melbourne, a Te Araroa-based kaiako at Te Wharekura o Kawakawa mai Tawhiti in Te Whare Kahika.
The drive between Te Araroa and Hicks Bay is normally fifteen minutes, but during the closure, teachers had to take a five-minute helicopter ride to keep the school open. Other teachers remained in Te Araroa to teach students who were unable to travel to school at Hinerupe Marae.
“Mōhio koe te āhua o ngā kaitaraiwa o konei, e pēnei te kaupoi nei, e pērā hoki mō te taraiwa waka topatopa,” e ai ki a Melbourne.
The helicopter travelled from Gisborne to transport Melbourne, his wife, and two Kōhanga Reo teachers.
Melbourne said the fragility of the roads is nothing new. He said it follows forty to fifty years of mudslides dating back to the laying of pipes, which caused instability, with mud and slash flowing into creeks and rivers such as the Waiapu. He said fixing the roads requires significant infrastructure investment.
“We know about the lack of commitment from the Government. Our hope lies with our mayor and her commitment and belief in this area and to the people of this area,” Melbourne said.
Transport and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop acknowledged the hardship and thanked communities for their response, but there was no announcement of financial support.
We reached out to Transport Minister Chris Bishop for response on whether communities along State Highway 35 should expect recurring closures and disruptions, given long-standing infrastructure issues and his acknowledgement that road damage and ongoing works have been common since Cyclone Gabrielle. In response, Bishop said the Government’s immediate priority is reopening roads so communities can reconnect. He said any new or historic information received by NZ Transport Agency would be reviewed to help determine what resilience work may be needed in the future, but it is too soon to say what that work would involve, how long it would take, or how much it would cost.
We also asked whether the Government would provide targeted recovery packages or relief funding to address the underlying infrastructure and improve long-term resilience, and how his office is working with Climate Change Minister Simon Watts to ensure transport infrastructure is adapted and future-proofed. Bishop said recent and ongoing upgrades had performed well during the storm, and while storms cannot be prevented, strengthening the network can help the transport system recover faster and keep communities connected.
The blue highway alternative
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has previously promoted the concept of a “Blue Highway” as an alternative to relying solely on fragile East Coast roads. The proposal, supported through the Provincial Growth Fund, would use coastal shipping to transport logs, reducing pressure from heavy freight vehicles on State Highway 35.
“Horekau te Rōpū Reipa i pai kia waha tonutia tēnei kaupapa engāri mō mātou ko tāku rangatira ka nui tō mātou hiahia ki te whai kupu, engari ko tāku ki a Ngāti Porou, ki te tatū i a mātou, me koke whakamua tēnei kaupapa. Kore mātou e moumou i tō mātou taima ki te kōrero ki ngā koroke kaihauru nei,” Jones said.
The proposed Blue Highway would not carry passengers, but freight such as logs, providing an alternative to trucking along SH35, which has been repeatedly damaged by storms and slips.
However, concerns remain among some in the community. Taiarahia Melbourne said the proposal raised environmental risks, pointing to past maritime incidents.
“The Blue Highway, but the problem is that many of us opposed it, because of the nature of the boats that would come in here; we have seen what can happen, like the incident off Tauranga,” Melbourne said.
His comments refer to the 2011 grounding of the container ship Rena off the coast of Tauranga, which released hundreds of tonnes of heavy fuel oil into the moana, contaminating coastlines and affecting marine life. The incident remains one of Aotearoa’s worst maritime environmental disasters and continues to shape community concerns about increased coastal shipping.
