Manawatu Gorge Landslip - Impact on Exporters

Since August business firms and other travellers have been inconvenienced by a huge landslip in the Manawatu Gorge near Palmerston North.   Logistics and transport operators have been particularly hard hit, especially those taking goods for export through to the Port of Napier.   An economic report last month showed that closures of the gorge since August had cost the region more than $2 million.

Vision Manawatu, the region's economic development agency, has said that those who use the gorge had suffered to the tune of about $62,000 a day.   The report was based on 500 trucks and 6300 other vehicles using the gorge each day.
It calculated lost productivity due to the additional 13 to 20 minutes of travel around the gorge via the Pahiatua Track or Saddle Rd, as well as extra fuel costs and expenses associated with drivers being on the road longer.

Although not visible in the photograph, the Gorge has the railway line to the East Coast on the other side above the river.   Fortunately this event has not affected the milk trains from Hawkes Bay to plants in Taranaki.

Photo courtesy of Nereda Corbett.