Residents sitting on edge | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

Four years ago Juliet Kojis was wondering if she would be able to return to her Wairere Rd home above Anzac Pde, one of Wanganui's major thoroughfares.

In late July 2006 a massive slip gouged out a big chunk of the hillside beneath her home, which sits above SH4.

While engineers found the slip had not damaged her home, Ms Kojis is wondering why the Wanganui District Council is loath to carry out remedial work given that another small slip came down between Monday night and yesterday morning.

This slip is nowhere near as extensive as the 2006 event, but she and her husband, David Scoullar, were upset with the damage that has been caused.

"I believe the water that's creating this problem is coming from vacant council land, directly behind my house, which is very boggy and that doesn't get drained," Ms Kojis said yesterday.

A few months ago council staff planted a few small flax plants along the foot of the slip on Anzac Parade, she said.

"But they didn't want to drain it or do anything else to the area."

In the meantime, she and her husband carried out a lot of planting on the hillside on their own.

Their property runs down to Anzac Parade but she said the council had a responsibility for a part of that land at the foot of the hill.

After the 2006 slip, Ms Kojis said the council "did not want to do anything and told me things were too unstable".

Since then she and neighbours on either side had written to the council, suggesting it place concrete blocks at the foot of the slip to strengthen the toe of the hill "but they [council] said to me that that wouldn't have made any difference".

"We believe the water coming out of the hill needs to be properly drained away and the council doesn't want to do that either."

After the first slip, her property was inspected by engineers on behalf of the Earthquake Commission. The report said Ms Kojis needed to drain her property to ensure stormwater did not affect the hillside.

"I've done that but that hasn't stopped the amount of the water that comes out of that hill."

She wants the council to channel water coming out of the hillside away from the area and secure the toe of the hill.

Council engineers inspected a slip which they said came in the wake of about 25mm of rainfall on Monday night.

Their report said all the slipping was "cosmetic in nature" so did not pose a threat to the property above it nor to traffic using Anzac Parade.

A council spokesperson said the council was not responsible for the clean-up or hill slope replanting but more topsoil slips were likely.

Council engineers have recommended that state highway contractors move the slip material and that the slope be replanted.