Heavy May rains caused a slip onto Glider Road which has since prompted Nelson City Council to close the road indefinitely. Photo: Supplied/LDR
A landslide has indefinitely closed a popular recreational road in Nelson just months after residents raised red flags.
Glider Road in Marsden Valley had provided access to the top of the Barnicoat Ranges but heavy rain late in May caused a slip which prompted Nelson City Council to close it.
The area around the road had been left bare following the harvesting of pines in the area from 2021.
Preliminary investigations show that the land above and below the steep road was unstable.
Alec Louverdis, the council's group manager infrastructure, in late June said the situation was "complex" and so the council had closed the road indefinitely.
It was now commissioning a geotechnical report to get a better understanding of the challenges and potential way forward.
The closure comes just four months after a newly-formed group of Marsden Valley residents publicly raised concerns about deforested hills in the valley increasing the risk of landslides.
The reforestation of the area around Glider Road had been a specific priority for the group.
Friends of Marsden Valley member Kathryn Richards had seen "significant damage and cracks opening" on the road since the May rains and thought the council made the "right call" closing it.
However, she said there was an element of "we told you".
"Having said that, trees that were only three years old in the ground - which they would have been, best case scenario - I don't know if they would have stopped this."
Kathryn Richards (front left) and the Friends of Marsden Valley had warned that a slip around Glider Road was likely after pines had been harvested. Photo: LDR/Max Frethey
Richards said the situation showed the "inevitable" consequences of clear-felling pine on steep slopes.
"We've definitely seen an increase of slipping since the trees have been removed. It illustrates the point that, when it's in pine trees it might be fine and dandy, but you've got to think about, when they're taken away, what's going to happen, and we've now got to deal with that."
Also a member of the Marsden Valley Trapping Group, Richards said the closure will add more than four hours to some of their trap lines.
The closure has also put more walkers on the Involution trail, an advanced downhill mountain biking track, she said.
"It'd be great if they could come to a safe solution, in the meantime, for recreational use, for bikes and walkers."
Kevin Rooke, president of the Tasman Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club, said the Barnicoat Range was the "jewel in the crown" of regional gliding sites and had been used by gliders "nearly ever fine day" before it was closed, attracting gliders internationally.
However, he added that the club had "seen the writing on the wall" after the road was repeatedly damaged after heavy rain and anticipated an eventual closure.
The slip has cut off access for gliders to the Barnicoat Range - the "jewel in the crown" of regional gliding sites. Photo: Supplied/Peter Allison
The club was negotiating with the council in the hopes of reinstating glider access in some way before the national paragliding championship is hosted in Nelson in January.
"We do need Barnicoat access, if possible. We are looking at a few options. Nelson City Council have been pretty helpful in a lot of ways."
Louverdis said a decision about the future of the Glider Road would not be made until the council understood the issues, potential works, and associated costs.
Planting around Glider Road, as part of the council's transition away from clear-fell pine forestry, is still scheduled to go ahead this winter.
Louverdis added that the council is actively engaged with the Friends of Marsden Valley and will continue working alongside the group to support the future of the area.
On Thursday, Nelson City Council added a new trail linking Involution to the Jenkins Hill summit to its tracks strategy.
Council staff will now engage with stakeholders to explore options and develop a design for the track.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
