Wainui dune work earns another look

Saturday, 12 April 2008
By Marianne Gillingham

Wainui residents may yet be successful in obtaining some high-tech beachfront erosion protection work, but they will be on their own with the costs.

Councillors at a meeting of the operations committee this week had mixed feelings over the effort, with a report clearly spelling out that people living within the coastal hazard zone did so at their own risk.

Some even lived in an area of extreme risk, the report said.

Residents there had been advised in July 1994 to have their house moved outside this zone.

The issue resurfaced with an exceptionally large swell on February 9 and 10, when the sea reached and undermined the foredunes in the first third of Wairere Rd.

The council received many calls from distressed residents, the report said.

Since then, a group of residents had written to the council to voice their concern over parts of the foredunes left extremely unstable, threatening public and property.

Staff had met residents at the site, where it was decided to take another look at geotextile sand cushion walls, designed by former rivers and land drainage asset manager Dave Peacock.

At the time, these had proved too expensive and too risky.

Residents were now prepared to accept a high level of risk over their effectiveness, agreeing to undertake more frequent maintenance work if necessary.

All costs would be met by a rate on those benefiting.

Engineering department manager Peter Higgs said the work had to fit in with the Wainui Beach Management Strategy. This strategy was formulated with the agreement of the community.

Alan Hall told the committee he remembered when the Gibbs report on coastal erosion had first established the Wainui Beach hazard line in the 1980s.

Dr Gibb had warned Wainui Beach would be back to the road over the next 100 years. This could be a gradual process or a spasmodic one. There could be periods of beach accretion. But the overall trend was for erosion.

Mr Hall said he would not like to see the council doing things to remedy a situation that was inevitable.

With climate change, things were going to get even worse, said Atareta Poananga. The council owed it to residents to make sure the work was feasible.

Brian Wilson disagreed, saying that if owners were prepared to pay to protect their properties, the council should help them. It was no different to the work the council did trying to manage rivers.

Bill Burdett agreed, saying there were some strong feelings against the council at Wainui Beach over this issue.

Over the years the community had tried to help themselves regarding protection works and ended up going to court to get clarification, because they could not understand the council's stance.

It was time for the council to get back alongside the community on this issue.

About the same time as Dr Gibbs created the Wainui Beach hazard line, there was a similar report for the Ohiwa spit, which was now bigger than ever, said Roger Haisman.

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