We are carrying out drainage work and road reconstruction on a section of Lighthouse Road following a significant wet weather event in May 2025.

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What happened

Christchurch City and Banks Peninsula experienced prolonged, intense rainfall between 30 April and 2 May 2025, resulting in flooding and multiple landslides across the region.

Significant cracking was found along Lighthouse Road and the surrounding land. The road was closed and affected residents were evacuated as a precaution. Expert geotechnical investigations have since concluded that houses downslope from the land instability site are no longer considered at risk.

At the Finance and Performance Committee meeting on 27 August 2025, elected members agreed to carry out land drainage work to lower the groundwater level at the slip site and reconstruct the section of Lighthouse Road impacted by the land instability.

Work is due to start in March 2026.

Ongoing monitoring will continue at the land instability site to determine if there are any long-term patterns of movement.

In an emergency, where there's an immediate risk to life or property, call 111.

In August 2025 we received a geotechnical report [PDF, 88 MB] from independent geotechnical engineers Engeo, outlining information obtained from borehole drilling completed onsite during July 2025. This data provided a better technical understanding of what is going on deep underground.

Based on the data, the geotechnical experts no longer believe occupied properties downslope from the land instability site are considered at risk.

The revised understanding was that a release of any debris is unlikely to occur as it would take a significantly larger rainfall event than May 2025 to trigger such an outcome. Even if debris was released following land movement, it is no longer considered a risk of reaching properties downslope of the land instability area.

This is because of what we now know about the land. If any debris were to release, the volume would be at the lower end of what was previously modelled and isn’t expected to flow easily due to the makeup of the land, which has a high clay content.

The Council will carry out a full reconstruction of the section of Lighthouse Road impacted by the land instability to both repair and make it more resilient for the future.

There will be three stages to this remediation work:

  1. Construction of a retaining wall to strengthen the road.
  2. Drilling of horizontal drains into the hillside.
  3. Reconstruction of the damaged section of Lighthouse Road.

Work is planned to begin in mid-March and will be carried out by contractor Fulton Hogan, who also did earlier repairs. Workers will be on-site Monday to Saturday, from 7am until 6pm, although fine weather conditions are required for specific roading and construction tasks.

The retaining wall and road reconstruction are highly weather dependent, and the installation time for drains may vary due to challenging or unpredictable ground conditions. We will keep you informed as work progresses if there will be changes to the expected completion date.

Ongoing monitoring at the land instability site will continue to determine if there are any long-term patterns of movement.

Residents will be kept informed about access to Lighthouse Road while remediation works are carried out.

We’re committed to keeping you informed.

For updates, sign up for our newsletter(external link) or email lighthouseroad@ccc.govt.nz.

To speak to our staff, phone 03 941 8999 or 0800 800 169.