\u201cBecause of the seriousness and immediacy of the risk, council has advised that all occupants vacate the campground within 24 hours,\u201d the letter read.<\/p>\n
No disturbance of the land was reported during the orange heavy rain warning that followed the evacuation over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Trees cover the hill at the rear of Clifton Motor Camp. Photo \/ Jack Riddell<\/p>\n
A council spokesperson said residents were still in the process of gathering their belongings and vacating the area.<\/p>\n
The council was supporting the motor camp with security to ensure fixed assets and former occupants\u2019 possessions were protected.<\/p>\n
However, the spokesperson said there\u2019s no plan yet on the future use of the land, because of the urgency to clear the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is likely that council will revert to managing it through the reserve management plan for this area,\u201d the council spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main criteria is to not have people living\/sleeping on the site.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clifton Motor Camp manager Robyn Wellwood directed all questions to the Hastings District Council.<\/p>\n
Kyle Sykes had owned a bach at the number one campground for only a year when he found out he would have to leave the place he purchased as his wife\u2019s \u201csanctuary\u201d after she was diagnosed with cancer.<\/p>\n
Kyle Sykes (left) with his daughter Anna packing up their bach at Clifton Motor Camp. Photo \/ Jack Riddell<\/p>\n
He said the past week had been filled with sleepless nights.<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t been back to his bach site since last Friday, mainly because of work commitments and daily life, but he was also coming to terms with the fact that they had lost a place they loved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2018m that hurt. I don\u2019t even want to go up there and look at the place at the moment because there\u2019s just so much money involved and just so many memories.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just started to get it how we wanted it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell are we going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the heartache, Sykes said he could see things from the council\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the hill came down last weekend \u2013 we\u2019d be going \u2018holy Jesus, thank you council\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot to give them that, but it\u2019s just a s*** situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clifton Marine Club hopeful<\/p>\n
Clifton Marine Club has been based at the camp since 1960.<\/p>\n
Club president Graeme Johnson said he met with council representatives and members of the Hawke\u2019s Bay Coastguard on Thursday about the club\u2019s future at the site.<\/p>\n
Crowds gather by the Clifton Marine Club after Clifton Motor Camp residents were given 24 hours to leave their homes because of risk of landslide. Photo \/ Jack Riddell<\/p>\n
He told Hawke\u2019s Bay Today he expected the boat ramp at the campsite would continue to be used by the Coastguard as a \u201csafety mechanism for the southern end of Hawke\u2019s Bay\u201d and that from March 3, the club would have access to their area once again.<\/p>\n
But Johnson said it would be a different model from the past.<\/p>\n
Before last week, he said, club members felt relatively safe leaving their boats by the club because of the security that full-time residents and staff provided.<\/p>\n
Now that they were no longer there, Johnson said, the club would have to create some security fencing to readjust and use what was already there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just going to be the new normal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson said the key message he wanted people to know was that the club would have access to its ramp and people would be able to use it again soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can continue on the legacy and keep going. So it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the council\u2019s manager for strategic projects, Dean Ferguson, said it was working with the Clifton Marine Club to understand what the club\u2019s access would look like from now on.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s priority at the moment was campers and ensuring a smooth transition for them to move their possessions, Ferguson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs discussed with the club members, if they want to use the boat ramp to collect any gear, they can co-ordinate with the motor camp to gain access.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t be able to confirm full reopening until we see the risk report.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke\u2019s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in Britain, Germany, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cBecause of the seriousness and immediacy of the risk, council has advised that all occupants vacate the campground…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296937,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[58114,80138,10040,29895,27262,17163,18836,9191,4611,40488,2082,1976,56662,19635,6844,111,43,139,11550,69,9769,1527,7192,19098,312,1857,81513,2249,1533],"class_list":{"0":"post-296936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-bach","9":"tag-boaties","10":"tag-camp","11":"tag-campground","12":"tag-clifton","13":"tag-closure","14":"tag-club","15":"tag-coastal","16":"tag-confident","17":"tag-evacuated","18":"tag-for","19":"tag-hawkes","20":"tag-landslide","21":"tag-marine","22":"tag-motor","23":"tag-new-zealand","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-newzealand","26":"tag-nights","27":"tag-nz","28":"tag-owners","29":"tag-return","30":"tag-risk","31":"tag-safe","32":"tag-says","33":"tag-site","34":"tag-sleepless","35":"tag-soon","36":"tag-will"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296936","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=296936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/296937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}