Road to Recovery: SH25A, jobs for youth, The Coromandel Cure and more

Published on 09 November 2023

Top left - looking west from the new bridge; top right, the night-shift soil nailing crew at work; bottom left, deck panels in place; bottom right the eastern approach to the new bridge.

This week on our Road to Recovery - the latest on SH25A Tapahari bridge, local road repairs, the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs, plus The Coromandel Cure.

SH25A Taparahi progress update

After the challenges of bad weather from ex-tropical Cyclone Lola, the bridge project at SH25A Taparahi has made good progress, including:

• Placing the precast deck panels, drilling soil nails to stabilise the slip face, and completing the earthworks at the eastern approach to the bridge.
• Installing 70 precast panels, which are ‘stitched’ together with steel reinforcement and concrete.
• Steel fixers have begun putting in the reinforcement, and the first of three concrete pours has been scheduled.
• The first of two new drainage road crossings have been completed.
• The team drilling for the soil nails made great progress on the slip face last week, working both day and night shifts. Soil nailing is a construction technique used to treat unstable soil slopes, such as the slip-face at SH25A Taparahi. The technique involves drilling holes into the slope at a slight downwards angle and inserting reinforcing bars and grouting them into place. This helps tie the mass of soil together into a large stable block.

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Recovery works on SH25

Ruamahunga Bay boat ramp closed next week: Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is about to start work to stabilise the slip site over State Highway 25 at Ruamahunga Bay on the Thames Coast. Their contractor will need to use the boat ramp parking area to park equipment and a container and there will also be a helicopter working in the area. For this reason, the boat ramp parking area and access to the boat ramp itself will be closed from Tuesday 14 November to Thursday 16 November. The contractor will stabilise the slope with anchors and mesh, working on three areas, labelled A, B and C on the map, starting with A and aiming to finish there before Christmas. Areas B and C will follow after the Christmas break. During this time, SH25 Ruamahunga will be open to stop/go traffic management most of the time, with the occasional 'stop/stop' for a few minutes at a time, when helicopters are operating overhead.

SH25 Thames: Road resurfacing begins Sunday 12 November on SH25, south of the Goldfields shopping centre. The work will take place at night for two weeks, and during this time stop/go traffic management will be in place. From time-to-time, side roads will be closed to help finish the work as quickly as possible. The affected side roads include Willoughby Street, Richmond Street and Sealey Street, access for residents will be provided from Pollen Street. Access to Richmond Street West will be maintained at all times.

The latest on our local roads

In the wake of ex-tropical Cyclone Lola, we experienced multiple flooding sites, overslips and trees down, but there were no additional permanent road closures. We're preparing details for an Out of Cycle budget request to meet repair costs. Of our local Council-managed roads, only Tapu-Coroglen remains closed as repair works continue to reopen the road in December.

Works are also ramping up as summer approaches, with our tender and construction programmes meeting the target deadlines. We're aiming to complete the 70+ repair sites we identified across the district within the next financial year (before 30 June 2024), based on our current resources.

Grass seeding has also been applied to 5000m2 of exposed slip surfaces across the district to allow growth during summer and to protect exposed soils.

Tapu Coroglen reopening on track for Christmas

Kelsey Construction, our local contractors based in Coromandel Town, are making good progress on the repairs to Tapu Coroglen Rd, despite recent vandalism to the site and plant. Weather allowing, the road is expected to reopen in time for Christmas. Here's the latest:

Timber Wall and Block Wall

• The timber retaining wall has been completed and backfill is 90 per cent complete.
• The block wall is 30 per cent complete.
• A big thank you to the Kelsey Construction team who worked through the weekend to compensate for delays caused by vandalism.

MSE Wall

• The mechanically stabilised earth wall is now complete.
• Road surfacing will be done at the same time as the pavement for the other site

Road Retreat site

• Work on this site is expected to start shortly, weather depending.
• The Department of Conservation has been informed of work taking place within its land.

Stay up to date on our roads

Black Jack Road repairs about to begin

Kelsey Construction Ltd has also been awarded the contract for the Black Jack Road slip repairs at Kūaotunu through to Otama. Contract works are planned to start 13 November 2023, at 1.67km from the junction with State Highway 25, and are expected to take four weeks. Kelsey Construction will return on the 15 January 2024 to begin works at 1.96km, with that site expected to take six weeks to construct.

Every effort will be made to ensure both noise and dust are kept to a minimum to prioritise the health, safety and well-being of neighbouring residents. Temporary Traffic Management will involve road closures up to 50 minutes at a time, with the road open for 10 minutes on the hour. We'll be doing everything possible to limit delays and will only implement 50-minute closures when necessary.

Regular access to residential properties will be maintained during construction and any temporary closures will be communicated directly to residents to arrange suitable times.

If you have any concerns, please contact Kelsey Construction or our Council:

Thames-Coromandel District Council 

07 868 0200 | customer.services@tcdc.govt.nz

Kelsey Construction Ltd: Alex Kelsey, 021 781 727

Northern Coromandel road repairs

Colville Rd RP - 6.793km and 8.879km

• The works contract for this site has been awarded to Nick Pemberton Construction.
• Work is scheduled to start shortly, weather depending.

Colville Rd Gabion Basket Walls

• Four sites on Colville Road have been sent to the market for pricing to provide additional support using Gabion Basket Walls.
• Construction is expected to start in the new year.

Kennedy Bay Rd

• Pricing for three repair sites on Kennedy Bay Rd has now closed and we're evaluating the tenders. We’ll keep you updated on that.

Stay up to date on our roads

Post-Lola clean-up for Council Reserves

Cleaning up Mercury Bay reserves affected by last week’s storm is underway in a staged process. A lot of debris was blown onto these areas and we’re working to clear walkways and public accessways to ensure that they’re safe.

At the moment, ground conditions are too wet for heavy machinery and high tides are still big. Some damaged beach accessways may only be repaired and accessed once the sea conditions have changed and sand levels returned.

We’re aware there’s a significant amount of windblown sand and some damaged beach accessways along our south-east coast including Cooks Beach, Flaxmill, and in the south eastern ward - Pāuanui and Whangamatā. Staff will be assessing these issues and completing repair and clean-up work over the next few weeks.

The clean-up will take time and we appreciate your patience. If you have any health and safety concerns about our reserves, please contact us and lodge a Request for Service. 

Lodge a Request for Service 

Council collaborates with business and agencies for recovery

The five local business associations from around the district, along with representatives from our district’s information centres met with partner agencies like Destination Hauraki Coromandel, Waka Kotahi/New Zealand Transport Agency and our Council on Tuesday to talk about the district’s ongoing recovery from the weather events, progress on our roading network and how business associations are putting the funding they have all received to use.

Items on the agenda included our Council’s Recovery Plan, Business Association work programmes, partner agency work reports, and group discussion on further collaboration opportunities.

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Mayors Taskforce for Jobs plants seeds for success

A planting project for storm recovery in Fletcher Bay and is giving local rangatahi opportunities in horticulture, as part of a grassroots employment programme in our district.

Four young people have been working in Fletcher Bay on a planting programme to help with the area’s storm recovery, with collaboration between the Department of Conservation, the Pare Hauraki Native Nursery, and the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ) Community Employment Programme.

The project is focused on the local campground’s flood resilience, following the impacts of the North Island weather events in early 2023.

 “This is just one of the great examples in our region of localism in action,” says our Mayor Len Salt. “It’s clear from talking with these young people that this on-the-job experience is crucial to their success. This sort of resilience planting work is of such long-term value to our wider community as well.”

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'Coromandel Cure' summer campaign launch

Kūaotunu Bubble Festival, Felicity Jean Photography

Our parent tourism organisation Destination Hauraki Coromandel has been hard at work on their biggest ever summer campaign, designed to build back confidence in The Coromandel as the place Where Kiwis Holiday.

Phase one of the campaign has almost wrapped up and phase two, The Coromandel Cure, will be kicking off at the end of this month with a focus on PR activity to raise nation-wide awareness of The Coromandel as a place to feed your soul.

“During this phase we'll feature the products and packages on offer from participating businesses - and there's still time to add yours,” says Destination Hauraki Coromandel marketing manager, Megan Nunn.

“This campaign is about inclusivity for all: operators, businesses, business associations and other community groups. Now is the time to align your Coromandel Cure with the campaign and make sure it gets good coverage during the launch phase.”

Find out how to showcase your cure

Destination Hauraki Coromandel’s website will be the campaign home, where people can find all The Coromandel Cures.

Your Coromandel Cure could be one of two options:

• A special product (e.g limited edition product, dish on a menu, experience)
• A combo, package, add-on, or anything that's good for your soul.

Product: Let them know what your special product cure is, when it is available and how you are presenting it, and they will send you the official campaign brand and other creative assets for you to use in marketing your Coromandel Cure.

Package: Upload details of your Coromandel Cure with campaign lockups to the Destination Hauraki Coromandel website.

“All media, social activity and billboards will direct people to The Coromandel Cures specially designed by you, and the promotional spend will ensure many eyes are looking for holiday inspiration,” adds Megan.

This second phase of the new campaign will run until Christmas, and will resume in January after a brief pause, with phase three running until the end of March.

Any questions or ideas you'd like to discuss, please email Megan at Destination Hauraki Coromandel.

Email Destination Hauraki Coromandel   Upload your deal now

Mental health boost for the Coromandel

Last week, Mike King and Richie Barnett visited the Coromandel to talk about mental health and support Gumboot Friday – their charity which connects young people to mental health support.

They visited Coromandel Town, Whitianga, Thames, Whangamatā and Tairua, holding free public talks, chats with local rangatahi and visits to community groups. People had the chance to learn more about the change needed in this space, and to ask Mike and Richie questions and share their own experiences.

Richie also joined some Whangamatā locals for a mountain bike ride – it was his first-time mountain biking and he loved it.

These events were held as part of our Council’s Recovery Plan and funded through the Ministry of Primary Industries’ North Island Weather Event fund.

Gumboot Friday offers free counselling, which is available for anyone aged 25 and under who needs support. This service is designed to take the pressure off central services and offer a solution for young people facing long wait times. Counsellors are available for face to face or digital sessions. People are encouraged to search the database to find a counsellor who meets their needs.

Choose a Counsellor

Hauraki Cyclone Response – Mindfulness Sessions

The Pinnacle Midlands Health Network are running group therapy for residents whose mental health has been affected by cyclones and severe weather events.

Over four weeks, whānau can come along to 1.5-hour sessions to learn valuable skills and mindfulness techniques to help them manage feelings of anxiousness and distress. Mindfulness can help to improve aspects of your mental health wellbeing such as anxiety, depression, stress, and sleeping patterns.

Referrals can be made through your doctor or by contacting Maraea Parangi 027 3753 017 or emailing Maraea.Parangi@pinnacle.health.nz. You can also drop into the Thames Community Centre on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9–11am (609 Mackay Street, Thames) to see Maraea and discuss if you are eligible.

These sessions are for those experiencing mild to moderate mental health impacts. If you’d like to find out more about accessing mental health services, speak to your GP, or visit the website below for more information.

Where to go for help

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