Wither Hills To Close At Midnight On Thursday Due To Fire Risk

Thursday, 27 February 2025, 10:57 pm
Article: Maia Hart - Local Democracy Reporter

An all-day drizzle in Blenheim has proven no dampener for the Wither Hills Farm Park which will close on Thursday night due to ongoing hot and dry conditions.

The Marlborough District Council said on Wednesday it had been talking with Fire and Emergency New Zealand and decided to close the park in the interest of public safety.

The council’s parks and open spaces manager, Jane Tito, said Fire and Emergency NZ had been reviewing the fire danger status daily over summer and had made the call to close the park.

Tito said the rain on Wednesday and cooler conditions had not reduced the fire risk.

“There is lots of dry grass in the park and with more hot weather and winds forecast, fire would spread quickly, placing anyone in the park at extreme risk,” she said.

All tracks would close, including the lower areas of the park which included the pump track at the Rifle Range entry, and car parks. The situation would be monitored daily by council staff and Fire and Emergency NZ.

Fire and Emergency NZ Marlborough group manager Chris Hayles said going off “current indices” a fire in the Wither Hills Farm Park would readily ignite, be extremely fast-spreading, difficult to control and have extreme fire intensity.

“Fire risk is intensified because of the slope. For every 10 degrees of slope, fire doubles its speed. Some of those slopes are incredibly steep and there is no escape,” Hayles said.

“Today [Wednesday] was much cooler than it has been throughout February and there was light drizzle, however that has done nothing to reduce the fire risk. We can’t be fooled by an overcast, grey, cooler day.

“With more warm weather ahead, the huge fire risk remains.”

The closure came later in the summer season than it did last year when the council decided to close the park in early January, which meant the 2024 King and Queen of the Withers, a popular 10km race, had to be cancelled.

The hills did not reopen until late March by which point a drought had been declared in the region.

There was currently a total fire ban in south Marlborough area due to the extreme fire danger and very high fuel loadings throughout the district.

The council said the public could use other recreational areas in Marlborough including Pollard Park pathways, the Taylor River Reserve and Picton’s tracks and trails.

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

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