Safety concerns halt work at Bluecliffs

Work will be paused on the opening of the Waiau River bar in the Southland settlement of Bluecliffs because of unsafe working conditions and an unexpected workload.

After declaring a state of emergency last Thursday, Environment Southland and its contractors began progressing work on opening the Waiau River bar on Tuesday.

However, Civil Defence controller Simon Mapp said the volume and nature of the material to be moved was  proving more challenging than anticipated.

 “We had hoped the opening could be completed this week, but the scale of the work required combined with the predicted strong sea swells and gale force winds from Sunday to Tuesday means that this work will need to be paused,’’ he said.

Work would halt from Sunday and would most likely recommence early on Wednesday if conditions were safe.

‘‘We’re hopeful the work will be completed by the end of next week.

‘‘We know residents want to see this work completed as soon as possible, however the safety of those doing this work is paramount given the challenging physical environment,’’ Mr Mapp said.

Timing of sea swells, tides and river flows would play a key part in the success of the opening and Meridian Energy was supporting this by influencing the river flow as much as possible.

Roads in the area would continue to be restricted for public access.