Dairy farmer Amanda Jordan lives in view of arguably one of the world’s most beautiful sights, Mt Taranaki.
It’s a magnet for people wanting to stop for the perfect photo – and they do.
Jordan told RNZ’s Country Life podcast that people
Dairy farmer Amanda Jordan lives in view of arguably one of the world’s most beautiful sights, Mt Taranaki.
It’s a magnet for people wanting to stop for the perfect photo – and they do.
Jordan told RNZ’s Country Life podcast that people in the area fear someone could die while taking photos on Kent Rd for social media.
“People that don’t know our roads... they want that perfect photo of the mountain or a perfect photo of the sheep, and you come around a corner, and you come across people standing on the road,” she said.
“For a few years, there’s been a lot of near misses on that hill because it’s a blind hill.
“Things could go wrong pretty quickly.”
Locals saw tourists from across the country and overseas stopping for photos.
Jordan said there had even been reports of people lying in the road.
The area had been used for wedding photos over the years too, but that was well managed, Jordan said.
“They’ll have spotters on both sides of the hill to stop traffic so the bride can beautify her dress and come out and have the beautiful photo,” she said.
“You don’t mind that so much because you know the risk is over the hill because you’ve got someone stopping it.”
It was different when there were 10 cars parked on the sides of the roads, with up to 15 people taking photos, Jordan said.
“Police do get called every now and then, but within an hour, if it’s a nice fine day, you’ve got a different group of people.”
The rise of electric cars had made things even worse, because of how quiet the vehicles are.
Jordan said those stopping for photos “won’t even hear you coming on the other side of the hill”.
“Our car’s not very loud, so I have to be particularly careful because they can’t hear us,” she said.
Yellow dotted lines have been put in place along the sides of the roads.
Signs telling people not to stop had been installed as well.
Those measures had not worked and more needed to be done, Jordan said.
Caution was needed to ensure whatever they did did not just shift the problem elsewhere, she added.
“I think we probably need to publicise that there’s actually a beautiful spot down at Lake Mangamahoe,” she said.
“There is a lookout that you can walk up ... it’s not an arduous walk, just up on a hill.
“You get the same beautiful photo of the mountain, but you’ve also got the beautiful Lake Mangamahoe in that photo as well.”
In July, police warned members of the public not to put themselves at risk on the road for a photo.
Senior Sergeant Matt Prendergast said motorists had reported almost hitting people who had stopped for photos.
“Concerningly, people are ignoring the signs and have been seen lying on the road and stopping traffic to take photos of the mountain,” he said.
“We’ve had more than one report of people nearly being hit, and multiple near misses being reported.
“People are not only endangering themselves, but all road users.
“We can’t always be there to enforce the law, so we are appealing to people to use their common sense and obey the signs.
“It is not worth risking your life to update your social media account.”
A petition calling for action over the problem has been presented to the New Plymouth District Council.
The council has asked locals to present their case for safety improvements during consultations for the region’s long-term plan.