Car parks and lower tracks included in Wither Hills Farm Park closure

All of the Wither Hills Farm Park in Blenheim is closed, and everything, including car parks, is off limits for the time being. The from Wednesday night, following discussions with Fire and Emergency (FENZ), due to high fire risk and concerns for public safety. The decision meant this year’s King and Queen of the Withers, a popular 10km race set for Saturday morning, had to be cancelled.

But it wasn’t just the upper running tracks that were out of bounds. A council spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that the full closure included everything at the bottom of the hills too. “The whole farm park is closed,” he said.

This included the lower tracks, the pump track at the Rifle Range entry, and car parks, to discourage visitation, the spokesperson said. The spokesperson said there had been a “consistent theme” of upper track closures almost every year, except the past two years, for up to six weeks at a time, depending on the fire risk. The park had been fully closed on previous occasions over the past decade, however, including a 24 hours a day closure in 2017.

FENZ Nelson Marlborough group manager Chris Hayles said they gave the council advice on the present fire danger in the Wither Hills area, but it was up to the council to decide what it closed, and for how long. New Zealand had been influenced by the La Niña weather event for the past few years, which Hayles said had “kept the fire danger down, in comparison to a standard summer – which we’re experiencing now”. “With the last few wetter years, the grass growth up on the hill, the available fuel that’s there to burn is extreme.

. . we’re not saying it’s any more dangerous than any other standard Marlborough has been, but definitely the public has all been used to what’s happened in the last two to three years, and they haven’t been reflective summers of what we generally would get,” he said.

“Given that we predominantly get northwest winds on these hotter, drier days, if something was to start around the Rifle Range car park area . . .

it’s only going one way, and that’s uphill, and right throughout the farm. ” On Wednesday, council parks and open spaces manager Jane Tito said, given the mixture of dry grass in the park, warm temperatures and windy conditions, fire would spread very quickly and place people at “extreme risk”. “We have received the latest report from FENZ who have recommended a full closure until conditions change enough to decrease the fire danger,” Tito said.

Hayles said on Wednesday that with no significant rain forecast in the coming days, the fire risk was increasing daily. “Going off the current indices, a fire in the Wither Hills Farm Park would readily ignite, be extremely fast spreading, difficult to control and have extreme fire intensity,” he said. “We could expect to see 10m flame heights with the length of the dry grass in areas of the park.

” The closure would be reviewed if Blenheim did receive significant rainfall, and the situation would be monitored daily, Tito said. Marlborough Harriers cancelled their 2024 King and Queen of the Withers event after being informed of the council’s decision, and club captain Ron Adams reckoned it was the first time fire risk had forced the race to be scrapped. “Which is a bit unfortunate .

. . I mean it is what it is, and we’ve just got to carry on,” Adams said.

The event usually attracted between 100 and 140 participants, and on Wednesday the club was getting in contact with those who had pre-entered, Adams said. South Marlborough moved into a total fire ban on Wednesday. The area affected by the ban included all land south of the Wairau River, including Rarangi to the east, and all active fire permits had been suspended.

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