Tauranga City Council team leader parks and environment Warren Aitken talks about the dangers of Omanawa Falls.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.
Members of a Tauranga hapū will be taking time off the marae this summer to keep an eye on visitors to a dangerous waterfall that has proved irresistible to snap-happy tourists.
The Omanawa Falls in the Kaimai Range near Tauranga can only be accessed by climbing down a hazardous cliff face. The falls have always been closed to the public due to safety concerns.
In 2018, one person drowned at the falls, in addition to a number of people getting seriously injured getting to the falls or having to be rescued over the years.