Slips and rockfall at Cape Kidnappers were identified as an "unacceptable risk" by the Department of Conservation twice in the last ten years.
The five-hour day-walk from Clifton to the famous gannet colony along the beach has come under the microscope after two Korean tourists narrowly escaped death in a massive slip which came down in January, sweeping them out to sea.
Son Jungho talked with 1 NEWS reporter Sean Hogan.
Hastings District Council has since closed the road to the public as they investigate its future.
However, documents obtained by 1 NEWS through the Official Information Act show two risk assessments of the walk were carried out by the Department of Conservation - one in 2009 and again in 2017.
Both assessments identified rockfall and slips as "unacceptable risks" to the public and recommended further geotechnical assessments be carried out.
The assessment in 2017 was received just one day before the launch of a multi-million dollar campaign, announced by the then National government, that promoted the Cape Kidnappers trip as a "Great Day Walk".
The promotion expected to triple the number of visitors to the track every year, which was already estimated to have 25,000 visits annually.
Two months after the initial announcement, engineering firm OPUS carried out geotechnical surveys, but only of areas surrounding DOC assets such as toilets and viewing platforms and their report notes "no sub-surface testing was conducted".
No assessments of the beach walk were or have since been carried out by DOC.
User surveys by DOC also show people flagged the steep cliffs that tower over the beach as hazards.
One walker said they made them feel "unsafe" and another felt "nervous". Others pointed out that there were no signs or warnings about the dangers the cliffs posed.
In a statement to 1 NEWS, the Department of Conservation acknowledged "throughout the process concerns have been raised about visitor safety in relation to the rockfall hazard on the beach section of the track".
But it says it will not be making any further comment as it is undertaking an "internal review to examine our processes, identify underlying causes and inform future work".
Hastings District Council has commissioned a geotechnical survey which is expected to be presented at its next meeting on March 5.
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