A slip at Arnott Heights in Greymouth forced a road closure cutting off 50 homes. Photo: Supplied / Grey District Council
Council teams are working to get road access to dozens of Greymouth homes cut off by a major slip.
Geotechnical engineers are working to stabilise a "precarious" area of the Arnott Heights hillside that has left 50 homes in the West Coast town isolated.
A major slip that came down at about midnight on Monday has left the area cut off to residents and motorists.
It also comes 14 months after a similar slip higher up the hill gave way.
There was further movement overnight on the shaky slope resulting in some small slips.
Mayor Tania Gibson hoped road access homes cut off could be restored on Tuesday afternoon.
"We are hoping that we might be able to get some one-way access through for a period of time," she said.
"We did have the slips come down in two places with an island in the middle that we would like to get down because it's still unstable.
"Risking people going through there with that being unstable is not ideal so we're just trying to get that disloged and down"
Power to the area had been disconnected for three hours to allow diggers to get access and clear some of the mud and debris, the council said.
Contractors were hoping part of the road would be cleared by 3.30pm, but it was likely access would be restricted to 4WD.
"We have vehicles and staff on hand to provide assistance as and when required.
"If you need help, please speak to staff on site. "
Gibson said the recovery was likely to be expensive, after recently securing emergency funding for a previous slip on the hillside.
"It's put a spanner in the works," she said.
"There will be a lot of ongoing work."
Community leaders may need to seek clarity on what this latest event means with the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) overhauling its Emergency Works Investment Policy.
The proposed change would mean NZTA's emergency funding only applied to one-in-20-year weather events, rather than one-in-10-year events, coming into effect in July 2025.
"It's going to be costly fix," Gibson said.
Despite the situation, cut off residents remained in "good spirits".
"They're looking after each other, they're a pretty good community up there.
"For some people, if they realy have to, they can walk down with contractors, or if they need medication, all of that can be resolved.
"We just need to make sure the communication with the contractors is there, if that's what they absolutely need to do.
"The contractors have done an excellent job, as some of [the conditions] have been precarious."