Farm track is now like 'Colombo St'

MICHAEL WRIGHT

Last updated 17:59 16/06/2011

Clifton Hill residents are getting by on goodwill as the earthquake claims the only road in and out of their suburb.

Clifton Tce is usually the sole access to the area, which sits just above Sumner beach, but the base of the road is off limits while road works crews clear it of debris brought down in Monday's aftershocks.

That may have left residents stranded but local couple Ken and Bev Loader have opened up their private road, allowing residents a supply line.

Their property at the top of the hill backed on to public land and an old track ran between the two, connecting Clifton Hill to Summit Rd.

Contractors were upgrading the road to allow all traffic on what was previously a four-wheel drive-only route.

Ken Loader did not think twice when the Christchurch City Council asked for access.

"We're very glad that we can make the road access available," he said.

"It's normally closed to the public but it's become like Colombo St through here. Or at least how Colombo St used to be."

Loader said he had been "directing traffic" and acting as guide for some of Clifton's more disoriented residents.

"There's the odd people who live on the hill who have never been up this far."

Revelation Dr resident Daphne Manderson said the Loaders had been "absolutely wonderful" in agreeing to the thoroughfare, even if she was a reluctant user of the road.

"I haven't been off the hill yet. I'm not that keen and I'm not keen to be coming back from work at night when it's dark but I'll have to use it so I'll be using it.

When people did venture down walking tracks for supplies they were sure to help the hill's many elderly residents, she said.

"It's getting supplies in and if we lose water [again] it's getting down to get water and bring it up for a lot of people that can't get down."

Her neighbour Julie Densem said the road was passable "as long as you go slowly and keep your wits about you."

"I used to drive ski roads and it's better than a ski road but if you're not used to it it's quite frightening. It's really just a farm track."

Densem used the track for the first time on Wednesday when she became "desperate for a shower."

The road was built by the army during World War Two as an access road to be used during a Japanese invasion.

Unstable rocks hold up Clifton Hill work

MICHAEL WRIGHT

Last updated 05:00 23/06/2011

 

Residents on a Christchurch hillside face isolation as land repairs are delayed and the condition of their sole access road worsens.

Clifton Tce, the only road into Clifton Hill, has been closed since last week's aftershocks while contractors cleared slips, but work stopped this week because of safety fears.

"[Contractors] are waiting for the debris that's fallen to stabilise so they can be sure it's not going to come down on the people who are working," a Christchurch City Council spokeswoman said.

There was no time frame for work to resume, she said.

Panorama Rd resident Tim Webster said the inactivity was frustrating. "What do they expect to happen? Some invisible act of God will make it all safe?"

The residents' only exits were a walking track or a track through the private Gethsemane Gardens to Summit Rd.

The private road was cleared and improved by the council last week but had deteriorated to "a bog" since, Webster said.

Revelation Dr resident Daphne Manderson said: "There's a lot of concern if we have to go out there through winter.

"I went through there [on Tuesday] and it was very sludgy. The road's not good enough for the sort of concentrations we're going to have over the next two or three months."

Residents needed to be better informed about what work was being done, she said.

Webster said smaller vehicles had little hope of using the private road.

"If you haven't got a four-wheel-drive or a reasonably powered car, you're screwed," he said.

"There are a lot of elderly people up here. They're just stranded. They don't have the confidence to drive out."

Neighbour Bill Degen said he had seen several cars get stuck and have to be pulled free.

Sumner chief fire officer Alan Kerr said fire truck access from the top of the hill could not be gauranteed.

"We probably wouldn't be able to get in if it started raining, which it did over the weekend," he said.

The council planned to seal the road this week, weather permitting.

A rumour had spread on the hill that an injunction from a resident worried the Clifton Tce repair work would damage their land was behind the delay.

No injunction had been filed with the High Court and council staff said they had no notification.

The barrier at the bottom of Clifton Tce was moved up yesterday afternoon, allowing some residents vehicle access.