PremiumAnnabel ReidMultimedia Journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·3 Jul, 2026 06:00 PM9 mins to read‌Kawerau local Brett Pacey, 62, says he raised alarm bells with the Kawerau District Council twice last year about the safety of the Tarawera riverbank, before the April river tragedy that claimed the lives of two young boys. Photo / Michael Craig

The small town of Kawerau fell quiet after two young boys, Paul Mason Lloyd and Luti Maui Mafi, died in a riverbank collapse. But new information shows one local had been speaking up for months beforehand – pointing to the hazards of an eroding, unstable riverbank. Reporter Annabel Reid speaks