Central Hawke’s Bay District Council | Media Release # 6
1 May 2011

All necessary evacuations have been completed as of midday Friday 29 April.

Access to Blackhead, Kairakau and Mangakuri beaches is restricted to essential services and residents only.

No access is available to Aramoana and the southern end of Pourerere Beach. It is expected to take up to many weeks to reopen access to Aramoana with road access to the southern end of Pourerere Beach closed indefinitely.

Crews are continuing to inspect roads and bridges and are reinstating access where possible. Roads will only be open to all traffic once they are inspected and are safe. Updates will be provided when available. Refer to the website for road closures and updates.

NZ Police are patrolling the coastal communities.
The following roads are closed, with manned road blocks in place:
• Long Range Road – top of Bunkers Hill
• Blackhead Road at Stoddards Farm
• Kairakau Road at Waipuna Farm
• Pourerere Beach Road at beach entrance
• Clareinch Road at Pourerere Road intersection

Road blocks and cordons will remain in place over the weekend and will be reassessed on Monday morning.

Other roads remaining closed are: Gibraltar Road, Blackhead Road (Rangitoto to Long Range Road), Mangakuri Road and Te Apiti Road.

Authorised Access Forms for residents wanting to carry out essential flood/storm recovery work on their properties in restricted areas must be obtained from Council. Anyone arriving at cordons without the appropriate authorisation will not be permitted access.

People with any concerns can contact the District Council office on 06 857 8060, or refer to Council’s website www.chbdc.govt.nz.

The state of local emergency declared by Central Hawke’s Bay District Council on Thursday 28 April remains in force.
(ENDS)

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