Mangawhai Harbour improvements push on

Along with the on-going maintenance of Mangawhai Harbour and establishing a fore-dune system on Mangawhai Spit, the Harbour Restoration Society is planning two initiatives to improve the upper harbour area.

The society’s publicity officer Loraine Hartley says the group aims to restore the muddy and silty shoreline to sandy beaches and clear channels for swimming and boating, while at the same time providing an environment friendly to birds and other compatible wildlife.

She says this will involve two initiatives:

• dredging the channel from a point off Lincoln Road and Tern Point to Mangawhai Tavern, and
• mangrove management.

A recent questionnaire left in retail outlets throughout Mangawhai and presented at two public meetings has indicated overwhelming support for both initiatives, she says.

“A new resource consent is necessary for the dredging and the application is now being drawn up,” she says. “The mangrove issue is being explored with local authorities.”

Volunteer help and funding is always an issue for the group, which is looking for new supporters. The society was formed 20 years ago with its main goals then being the re-opening of the harbour entrance and the sealing of the southern breach and completion of the bund wall.

Info: Phone Loraine on 021 141 3441, or mhrs@ubernet.co.nz