24 December 2021

Signs are now up at the Te Awaiti and North Tora coastal campsites to make campers more aware of the risk of camping there.

South Wairarapa District Council in collaboration with the Martinborough Community Board this week developed a solution to keep the two campsites open for overnight camping, using a combination of mitigation measures.

The signs reflect the possibility of heavy swells and rapid river level rises. The areas are low-lying and at risk of flash flooding in certain weather conditions which can be particularly hazardous if people are asleep as there is no alarm.

The risk mitigation plan includes MetService sending an alert to Fire and Emergency NZ, the Council and Community Board if severe weather conditions is on the way.

The Council will also send out an officer to warn campers in such situations and publish a warning immediately on its social media pages (Facebook, Instagram). If safe access is not possible to the campsites, the local Tora FENZ Brigade will become involved to help assist the public.

In addition, campers are also advised that MetService has an alert system which warns of heavy swell warnings for the Greater Wellington region.