Christchurch Civil Defence Update
Sunday 19 February 2017
Update 30 9am

Managed access to Hoon Hay Valley Road and Kennedys Bush Road.

Around 30 residents were waiting at the cordons when registration for access through the Hoon Hay Valley Road and Kennedys Bush cordons opened at 8am today.
Access will remain open until noon. We extended the time recognising that the short notice of confirmation of today’s access and the difficulty some residents are having meeting this deadline.
Residents still need to register to gain access. The can be done today at the sign in points noted below. The reason for signing in and out is so emergency services know who is beyond the cordon at any time.
Sign in points:
· Kennedys Bush Road: 8am registration for 9am access at bottom of hill prior to access to Halswell Quarry off Kennedys Bush Road
· Hoon Hay Valley Road: 9am registration for 10am access at cordon access point outside 51 Hoon Hay Valley Road

Residents will be required to sign in to receive vehicle access stickers and a safety briefing. We will be ensuring all vehicles and occupants leave the cordoned area and they will be given a 15 minute warning of when the access will end.

Firefighting Update
Roughly 150 fire crew have been dispatched, as efforts to extinguish the Port Hills blaze continue.
The fire is currently 68 per cent controlled, and Marlborough Kaikoura Rural Fire Authority principal rural fire officer Richard McNamara says he hopes to bring aircraft numbers down over the next few days, to give crews a well-deserved break.
He says the winds are stronger today than previously, and a considerable amount of low cloud blankets the Port Hills.
McNamara says 15 aircraft will be dispatched in total, made up of 12 helicopters, and 3 fixed wing water bombers.

Port Hills closure

The Christchurch City Council has closed recreation areas of the Port Hills to the public due to ongoing safety risk. Restricted zones are for all tracks and open areas in the Port Hills, including Victoria Park and the Rapaki, Mt Vernon and Huntsbury tracks. Signage is on tracks. The restrictions are like to be in place for several weeks while fire crews extinguish the fires and all safety issues are dealt with.

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