The Thames-Coromandel District Council says they're looking at permanently closing Bluff Road due to on-going health and safety issues.

A section of the road between Matarangi and Suckers Rock was closed early last year following a substantial rock fall, and while rock blasting and netting work allowed it to reopen in December, days later another rock fall on another section of the road saw it closed again.

The Mercury Bay Community Board has recommended that the section of Bluff Road between Matarangi and Suckers Rock should be permanently closed. Photo: File

The Mercury Bay Community Board has considered options for Bluff Road, which included further blasting and netting, removing the entire rock corner, as well as closing the section of road permanently.

The board has since recommended permanently closing the road, which has also been supported by the Thames-Coromandel District Council's Infrastructure Committee.

Mercury Bay area office manager Allan Tiplady says if Bluff Road was the only access point, the board's recommendation may have been different.

'Both the Mercury Bay Community Board and Infrastructure Committee also assessed the cost to open the road, against the small numbers of people who used it throughout the entire year,” he explains.

'[The board] decided it wasn't financially prudent, or fair for the district ratepayers to foot the bill for.”

The cost for options around further blasting and mesh netting through to removing the entire corner was estimated at $300,000 to $400,000. While the option for closure has been estimated at approximately $10k.

Traffic can still travel between Kuaotunu, Rings Beach and Matarangi by either driving the State Highway or using the Department of Conservation track for walkers and cyclists.

The recommendation to close the road permanently will now go to Council for a final decision.