{"id":282478,"date":"2026-02-13T16:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/282478\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T16:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T16:37:18","slug":"devastated-hawkes-bay-campground-being-evacuated-due-to-landslide-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/282478\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Devastated’: Hawke’s Bay campground being evacuated due to landslide risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Clifton<\/p>\n

\nClifton Motor Camp (file image).
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ Google Maps\n<\/p>\n

Campers are shocked and devastated as a Hawke’s Bay campground is evacuated due to the “extreme” risk of a landslide, the manager says.<\/p>\n

It comes three weeks after six people died in Mount Maunganui<\/a> when a chunk of the maunga crashed onto a holiday park.<\/p>\n

The Hastings District Council said it evaluated “at-risk” sites including the Clifton Motor Camp after that tragedy.<\/p>\n

At 4.30pm on Thursday, the council told campers and permanent residents they had 24 hours to leave because a geotechnical report has found an extreme risk of landslides affecting the grounds.<\/p>\n

“Heavy or prolonged rain, elevated groundwater levels, or an earthquake could cause the slope to fail,” the council said.<\/p>\n

“If that occurred, soil, rocks and large trees would fall directly onto buildings and caravans located at the base of the slope.”<\/p>\n

Hawke’s Bay is under a heavy rain watch from 3pm today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The council said there would be little warning and limited opportunity to escape safely if a landslide occurred.<\/p>\n

The council said making the site safe would require significant engineering and drainage works, likely costing several million dollars.<\/p>\n

Unless that work was undertaken, the campground could not be considered safe to occupy.<\/p>\n

There had been slips there in the past: one in 2011 damaged the toilet block and covered the playground, and one in 2019 that put two tourists in hospital.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\nA previous slip in 2011 covered the playground area.
\nPhoto: Supplied \/ Hastings District Council\n<\/p>\n

Hastings District Council chief executive Nigel Bickle said the decision was not a “knee-jerk reaction”.<\/p>\n

“The advice is clear – the level of risk is extreme and cannot be ignored.”<\/p>\n

Bickle understood it was distressing news for people who used the campground – some for many decades.<\/p>\n

“But when expert advice tells us there is a credible threat to life, we have a responsibility to act.”<\/p>\n

Campers shocked, devastated<\/p>\n

Clifton Reserve Society’s Piki Wellwood-King – which leases the land from Hastings District Council – said the advice came out of the blue.<\/p>\n

“Everyone here is in shock around the short notice, absolutely devastated trying to comprehend what’s really happening,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The camp composes of people who live here permanently, people who live here seasonally, and the public who come in and rent a site,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It’s really weighing heavy on everyone … it’s huge.”<\/p>\n

Some had camped there for generations, and more than a dozen lived there permanently, she said.<\/p>\n

But Wellwood-King said the advice to leave made “perfect sense” given the safety risk.<\/p>\n

The council said staff were working with the society and support agencies to help residents with accommodation and support services, and to ensure they could retrieve their personal belongings.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero, a daily newsletter<\/a> curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clifton Motor Camp (file image). Photo: Supplied \/ Google Maps Campers are shocked and devastated as a Hawke’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-282478","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-podcasts","15":"tag-public-radio","16":"tag-radio-new-zealand","17":"tag-rnz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}