Quad bike only access out of bay

To get over the hill for groceries or petrol, Carol and John Masefield have to get their quad bike and navigate a rough track through farmland.

This is their reality as residents of Goughs Bay, Banks Peninsula, where the only road in and out has been closed for the last month.

A large chunk was swept away on December 15 during extreme rain that affected several bays on the eastern side of the peninsula.

The Christchurch City Council is not able to say when the road will reopen for the handful of residents who call the bay home.

‘‘Just getting our supplies in and out is a big deal, because you can only carry so much on the [quad bikes],’’ Goughs Bay resident Carol Masefield told The Press.

This new route takes about 25 minutes if all 16 of the gates are open, Masefield said. It is not very enjoyable during rain.

‘‘It’s a farm track ... it’s uneven, the camber’s not good,’’ she said.

Two other families and a neighbour were using the track too.

John Masefield said at this time of year, he would usually be sending lambs from their beef and sheep farm to the works, but that was no longer possible due to the lack of road access.

Lambs would usually be sent away fortnightly through until about March or April, he said.

The Masefield’s said they had not heard when the road would reopen – but said it would be a huge job.

‘‘It is what is, and we’re dealing with it, but a bit better communication would make things a wee bit more bearable,’’ John Masefield said.

A city council spokeswoman said staff were working repair methodologies for Goughs Rd, ‘‘but at this stage we don’t have a timeframe we can provide’’.

Damage in the bay was not limited to just the road.

John Masefield said a stock bridge on his farm was washed away. It has since been rebuilt, using materials flown in with a helicopter, he said.

Masefield also managed to get a digger into the bay. In a week of working, he estimated it cleared about half of the silt on the farm.

The silt was now collected up in piles, but Masefield said he does not know where it will go.

Marie Haley, who lives further up the hill in Goughs Bay, said her property lost over 2km of fences in 29 different places during the rainfall.

Her family has lived in Goughs Bay since 1865.

Haley said the regenerating forest and stream, which she had worked to protect, has been badly damaged.

‘‘The beautiful places that I loved as a child are gone, and won’t be the same again in my daughter’s childhood,’’ she said.

Haley was also getting in and out of Goughs Bay on a quad bike, using a steep track to get to a borrowed car.

The city council has spent $300,000 on repair work across the peninsula since the storm, according to Jane Davis, the council’s general manager of infrastructure, planning and regulatory services.

She said Long Bay Rd, Fishermans Bay Rd, Paua Bay Rd, Hickory Bay Rd, and Dalglishs Rd still only have light vehicle access for residents only.

The worst affected roads, alongside Goughs Rd, were Long Bay Rd, Hickory Bay Rd, and Dalglishs Rd, Davis said, commenting: ‘‘these roads have had a number of dropouts and slips’’.

She said about 23 households lived across all the affected eastern bays.