Bluecliffs Residents can Return Home

Emergency Management Southland Group Recovery Manager Lucy Hicks has announced that Bluecliffs residents can return home today.

Residents were asked to evacuate their properties by Friday, 8 March so work could commence to clear the local dump site due to reports of explosives and other hazardous material, including asbestos.

During this time, fulltime residents of Bluecliffs were accommodated in Tuatapere.

Work to remove material has concluded ahead of schedule, with around 2000 tonnes of rubbish removed. No explosives were found, however the team removed a large amount of asbestos which was separated and managed by specialists.

“The contractor and specialists have gotten through the work faster than anticipated, so the expected 21 days for residents to be out of their homes was reduced down to 12.”

The contractor and a landfill specialist completed the final inspection of the site this morning and confirmed it is safe for residents to return to their homes.

Traffic management will remain in place as contractors are still working on reinstating the area.

Bluecliffs Beach Road is only open to residents and homeowners.

The Bluecliffs area is still subject to a Transition to Recovery declaration. This is in place for a minimum of 28 days until 14 Apr.

Bluecliffs residents will continue to receive support from the recovery team.

“We know this has been a difficult time for the Bluecliffs community and we thank them for their patience. No decisions have been made about the future of Bluecliffs and at this stage all options remain on the table. The expected report on the opening was received last week, and the team are considering this. The local recovery team will work with the community to discuss these options,” said Lucy Hicks.