Hawke’s Bay Regional Council is seeking information from the public in relation to an incident at the Kaipapa Public Access walkway to the Tūtaekurī River.
In mid-February some of the access track to the river was washed away due to bank erosion, making the area a health and safety risk.
The Regional Council closed the track, and felled trees across the entrance of the track to stop vehicles entering and possibly driving off the bank and into the river.
Council says that between Wednesday 16 February and Friday 25 February, a large digger has entered the access track and driven over the felled trees.
Regional Council senior ranger, Mark Brinsdon says the action has caused the trees to break apart from their trunks and roots, deeming them useless.
“These trees will more than likely die and provide no stabilisation to the bank, which puts the access track and road at risk of being eroded away. We have lopped trees at the waters edge to stop further bank erosion and to protect the remaining access track and Dartmoor Rd,” he said.
“The digger dug up the river bank to gain access to the river, and crossed over to a river beach in the centre of the river.
“We don’t know why this happened, and we would like help from the public to identify the offender,” says Mr Brinsdon.
Anyone with information regarding this can report it to the Regional Council in the strictest confidence.
