Following the continued spell of hot and dry weather Nelson City Council, in collaboration with Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), Department of Conservation, forestry companies and Tasman District Council, is closing access to the following reserves, from midnight Monday 10th February (today), until further notice:

Eureka Park

Titoki Reserve

Atmore Reserve

Venner Reserve

Bolwell Reserve

Pipers Reserve

Tantragee Reserve, including the Brook Mountain Bike Area/Codgers Trails

Hanby Park

Days Track

In addition, the Maitai Valley Road will be only accessible to residents beyond the Maitai Campground, and the Tantragee Road will be closed to all public access including cyclists and walkers.

The following reserves are already closed to the public and will remain so until further notice:

Grampians Reserve

Sir Stanley Whitehead Reserve

Marsden Valley Reserve

Maitai Water Reserve

Brook Conservation Reserve

Roding Water Reserve

Council makes the decision to close reserves and roads after taking advice from FENZ and monitoring the Build Up Index (BUI), which is an indicator of the difficulty in suppressing a fire that has started. The BUI is now at 110 and is expected to increase with little to no rain forecasted over the next two weeks.

Nelson City Council will assess the situation weekly. Further decisions on closures or re-openings will be made in consultation with FENZ.