Abseilers remove more than 50 tonnes of rock from Bluff Hill
Abseilers removed more than 50 tonnes of material from Bluff Hill to prevent risk to the public.
A Napier City Council spokesperson said they removed rocks and trees that pose a risk to the public previously and routinely check that the face of the hill is stable, using drones and manual surveillance.
The large tree that was removed was on the edge of the cliff which had extensive cracking around it, meaning it could have fallen onto the road, the spokesperson said.
"The abseil team used a chainsaw to remove the tree, and hand tools to remove most of the rock but also used airbags to remove a large portion so that the abseilers were not in the danger zone when the rocks fell."
The area is currently protected by the containers on the footpath so the risk to road users is "very low".
"We will be checking the area once the weather clears up to see if more work is required."
