7 Apr 2017

Wgtn evacuees allowed home after slip

8:38 pm on 7 April 2017

Residents who were evacuated in the Wellington suburb of Kingston this morning because of a slip have been allowed to return home.

Kingston resident Ian Savage.

Kingston resident Ian Savage. Photo: RNZ / Edward O'Driscoll

A Wellington City Council spokesperson said a geotechnical engineer had assessed the slip and said there was no further risk.

The houses - one of them containing two units - were in Halifax Street.

A council spokesperson said the slip happened overnight. Nine people were asked to leave their homes as a precaution.

The council set up a welfare centre in the Brooklyn community centre.

Ian Savage said he was at work when his neighbour called and told him about the evacuations. They packed up the essentials - including two pet cats.

The street is near Priscilla Crescent, where a huge slip forced forced residents from their homes in 2013.

Heavy rains this week have caused a multiple slips in the capital in recent days.

Two houses on Millward Street, Newtown, were evacuated when a landslip came down at the back of the properties, downing a power pole and rupturing a gas main.

Another on the Featherston side of State Highway 2 on the Rimutaka Hill is partially blocking the traffic today, the Transport Agency said.

Slip on Millward Street, Newtown, Wellington.

The slip on Millward Street in Newtown that occurred earlier this week. Photo: RNZ / Edward O'Driscoll