A Coromandel local authority is calling this week's incident in which a man fell into a sinkhole, a "tragedy."
The man was riding a bike through a park in the town of Waihi and lay injured for hours in the hole before being found yesterday morning.
He is now in a stable condition in hospital with spinal injuries.
Hauraki District Council chief executive Langley Cavers said the accident was tragic, and he was unsure how long the hole had been in the park.
"We've had them around this area, we've had them under the state highway close by, typically when they open up we get in there, we fill them with appropriate material, sometimes we'll plant above them.
"It just keeps people out of them because they can reoccur."
He said the sink hole would be filled.
