20 September 2013 Update:  Cape Palliser Road at Kupe’s Sail, just before the Cape Palliser Lighthouse, is now open.  Please see our Facebook page for photos: 
https://www.facebook.com/SouthWairarapaDistrictCouncil

13 September 2013 Update:  The last concrete pour will happen today, then shutters will be stripped and site tidied, tie-ins at each end will be reconstructed, wheel guard restraints fixed.  Contractors anticipate the road will reopen for the weekend of 21 September 2013, barring an unforseen issues.

04 September 2013 Update:  A footpath has been constructed so visitors can walk past the works to the Cape Palliser Lighthouse.  Concrete will be poured at intervals over the next two to three weeks in the main road repair area. 

20 August 2013 update:  Cape Palliser Road at Kupe’s Sail (just before the Cape Palliser Lighthouse) remains closed.  Scaffolding has been installed and drillers have put anchors in the rock face.  Rigs are on site today to cut out the footing for the wall, and tie backs, reinforcing and shuttering due to be installed tomorrow.

There is an area of rip-rap (ungraded rocks from cobbles to boulder-sized pieces) just west of the site that needs to be repaired  to allow concrete trucks and pumps to enter the site.  Oldfields have looked into this issue today and will send us more information to review.

01 August 2013 update: Council has had to involve specialized structural engineers to come up with a robust design that takes into consideration the requirements of Iwi (sacred/waahi tapu site), Greater Wellington Regional Council (construction works near a water body), DoC (manages marine environment) and Maritime New Zealand (lighthouse owners).  We should have final engineering plans very soon, at which time they will be distributed to the key stakeholders (SWDC, GWRC, Iwi, DoC, MNZ) for approval. Once we get approval from all stakeholders we will be able to start work. We have been keenly focused on this project and look forward to getting the work underway as soon as we can.  Access past this point can be made on foot or motor bike at the moment.

27 June 2013: Cape Palliser Road at Te Kopi, which was closed 21 June due to high seas and wave debris, has now reopened to traffic.

Cape Palliser Road is still closed at Kupe’s Sail, approximately three kilometres before Cape Palliser Lighthouse.

Part of the concrete causeway at the foot of Kupe’s Sail has been washed away and the road is un-passable for vehicles. SWDC Engineers are proposing a retaining wall to reinstate road access to the public and private ownership beyond the site.  SWDC are seeking urgent resource consent under the Resource Management Act emergency work provisions for repair works.  The cost of repairs will be funded through NZTA’s annual works programme.  It is anticipated this project will take approximately three to four weeks to complete.