Ōhope Beach’s best loved walking track risks being shut down permanently as a vote on whether or not to repair it looms.

The track between West End and Ōtarawairere Bay traverses a steep escarpment with unparalled views over Ōhope Beach. A large slip closed the track in 2022, followed by another in 2023.

Whakatāne District Council will decide the fate of the track at a meeting today.

A vote to repair the track would go against the recommendations of council staff, which are to decline a proposal to repair the two slip sites by volunteer group Toi’s Track Restoration Trust and permanently close the track.

However, a second option to support the trust to restore the track, subject to certain conditions being met, has been put forward by staff.

This option would see council allocate additional funding of $250,000 to cover resources and technical reports necessary to support the trust to meet these conditions.

The money would be drawn from the contingency fund allocated in the 2026-2027 Annual Plan.

The council would also consider a fund of $100,000 a year for ongoing track maintenance be set aside as part of next year’s Long-term Plan 2027-2037.

This option would enable the council to retain the $451,000 Tourism Infrastructure Fund granted by Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for track repair when the slips occurred in 2022 and 2023.

Austin Oliver and Angus Robson at the cordoned-off entrance to a once-popular walking track. Photo / Diane McCarthy

The trust was formed in May by a group of volunteers, led by Austin Oliver and Angus Robson, wishing to work co-operatively with the council to restore the track.

Council staff have noted 46 “gaps” between the proposal put forward by the trust to repair the slips and the Request for Proposals issued by the council as part of its standard procurement processes for hiring civil contractors.

This request for a holistic restoration and maintenance plan that covered the full track from West End to Ōtarawairere Bay at no expense to the council, including maintenance of the track over the next 10 years, received no proposals.

The scope of the proposal put forward separately by the trust was only to repair the two slip sites.

Council staff also found health and safety requirements insufficient and the core risk, of landslip, not adequately addressed in the proposal.

Risks to the council and to its chief executive of prosecution under the Health and Safety at Work Act are highlighted in the report.

Closing the track was recommended, “given the risks to life and property from landslides, uncertainty about the frequency of future landslide events, and the likely future costs associated with them”.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.