Daughter’s death sparks calls for track safety improvements

The mother of a woman who slipped and fell to her death on part of the Coastal Cliffs Walkway near Diamond Harbour wants it made safer to prevent any more fatalities.

Fitness fanatic April Morel, 35, was running with the family dog on a rainy day when she fell over the Church Bay section of the track on March 30 - her body was later discovered lying on rocks below the cliff.

And as the damp weather continues in the winter months the track will get more slippery, April’s mother Debbie Morel fears another family could lose a loved one if safety is not improved soon.

After April’s accident, city council rangers visited the track and carried out some modifications, including the installation of steps, to provide a more clearly identifiable surface and tread for users.

The only signage is at the entrance to the track, identifying it as the Coastal Cliffs Walkway, but it does not warn users about risk.

Christchurch City Council head of parks Andrew Rutledge said staff are planning a review of this section of the track and the connecting linkages along the Head to Head Walkway.

“Any areas identified as requiring additional safety work will be carried out or managed.”

But the city council did not know when the investigations would take place.

Miss Morel said the city council has an “obligation to keep these tracks safe”.

“The council is pushing to make these tracks accessible for the public and to link them up, so therefore have a responsibility to maintain these.”

She said it was “not about closing the track,” the recent modifications were not safe enough. She would like to see more measures such as railing and signage.

“It’s still very open on that side, anyone could trip on the steps and go.”

April was fit, healthy and very familiar with the track, as it was near her father Don Martin and stepmother Caroline Martin’s home in Diamond Harbour, where she had been staying during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“It’s dangerous. Even in the summer, we were walking it and we tripped,” Miss Morel said.

 

Her family is in the process of getting a memorial seat installed at the site, but Miss Morel said she is too scared to take April’s nieces up the track to see where it would be installed.

“I don’t want [them] going anywhere near it.”

Miss Morel plans to meet with some of the local community groups like the Diamond Harbour Community Association and Diamond Harbour reserves management committee to find out what can be done.

DHCA treasurer Thomas Kulpe said the group has petitioned to have the maintenance improved on the track in the past but has not “highlighted the security issues” too much.

“We would all be fools if we didn’t take the accident as an opportunity to look at safety issues, of course, nobody wants to see something like this happen again.”

But Mr Kulpe said he would wait to hear more details on the circumstances of the accident before looking into options.

Miss Morel was going to make more inquiries into April’s death with the coroner.