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A community group has put forward an alternative plan, including a seawall, to counter the naturalisation process that Auckland Council proposes for Ōrewa Reserve beachfront.
The group, called Ōrewa Reserve Community Association (ORCA), formed in July and last month sent a report with an alternative concept to the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board.
It did this in response to the council’s four proposed designs, which were released in Hibiscus Matters in April (HM April 8 and March 6).
The naturalisation approach that Council supports means losing grassed reserve over time, and gaining high tide dry beach. The edge of the reserve would be reshaped with dunes, reducing the need for the expensive transfer of sand as a buffer against erosion.
None of council’s proposals include building a seawall or keeping the Norfolk pines on the reserve edge – once erosion makes those trees unsafe, they will be removed.
All the current members of the fledgling ORCA group are Hibiscus Coast Highway residents, who live near the beach reserve.
Spokesperson Chris Carter says protecting the reserve from further erosion should be the number one priority.
“Our plan is a way to preserve what we have for the future, for our grandkids. The reserve is too valuable to lose because of its popularity for recreation and its proximity to the township. If saving it means losing some dry sand beach, it’s a price we’re prepared to pay.”
Carter says it is the group’s gut feeling that 80 percent or more of local residents support a seawall.
“They don’t want to lose the reserve, the carparks or the trees. Without a wall so much of that reserve will be lost to erosion. We are fortunate – we are in time to do something about that. We were somewhat surprised that the local board supported the naturalisation concept, when there is little public support for that.”
Carter, an accountant, said while ORCA’s plan is uncosted, so are the options put forward by council at this stage.
He says while seawalls are expensive to build, the costs of naturalisation could also be costly.
“Council’s plans include expensive elements such as moving the playground, basketball court and carparks away from shore. We want to sit alongside them and ensure that when it comes to cost, eggs are being compared with eggs. We pay the rates. We just want the process to be open and upfront and for the full figures to be put on the table.”
ORCA’s Murray Coulter and Michael Baxter say they joined the group because they are very concerned that the option of a wall was removed, before public consultation on the plans even opened.
Coulter describes moving the basketball court closer to the road as “nonsensical bearing in mind how many balls fly around when there’s a game on”.
Baxter says that the options that Council put forward don’t meet the needs of the community.
He says the sand replenishment process increases the volume of sandy silt blowing onto the road and into properties across the highway.
“We believe our plan would require little to no ongoing sand replenishment, which would also be a huge saving,” he says.
Council was not prepared to comment on ORCA’s plan until staff are able to meet with the group. At this stage council does not have a date for opening public feedback on the Ōrewa Reserve proposals – something that had been expected around the middle of this year. However, Parks and Places specialist Matt Woodside says work on the development of future management options for Ōrewa Reserve continues, with emphasis on naturalising the coastal edge to build resilience to coastal processes and aligning the plans with the Shoreline Adaptation Plan programme.
“We’re aware that the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board have received a report from a local community group and acknowledge the work that has gone into this,” Woodside says.
“It’s great to see the community is passionate and engaged – we’re looking forward to working alongside the community when consultation is open.”
In the meantime, ORCA wants a formal acknowledgment from the local board that they will put the seawall plan to council for consideration.
It also hopes to ramp things up, potentially increasing its membership, and starting a petition.
Info: https://sites.google.com/view/orewa-beach-stop-sand-movement/home or email: chriscarter230@hotmail.com
Seawall contract not yet awarded
As of last week, the selection of a company to build the Ōrewa Beach seawall, from Kohu Street to Marine View, was still underway, with a tender not yet signed. The tender period closed in mid-May. A month ago, Auckland Council engineering, assets and technical advisory general manager, Paul Klinac, said council was still negotiating the contract award and he expected to have a contract in place by early September. The works, which Council had earlier hoped to have underway towards the end of July, have been pushed out with a new start date not yet confirmed.
