Mayor calls Ōrewa coastal work a mistake

Consultation on a draft Shoreline Adaption Plan (SAP), covering the coast from Snells Beach to Ōrewa, is open until November 12.

In addition to the online feedback platform, council is holding drop-in sessions at libraries. The first will be held on October 21 at Warkworth Library, followed by one on November 4 at Ōrewa Library. Two more will be held at Helensville and Wellsford Libraries.

The plan aims to manage council’s coastal assets as erosion and rising sea levels increasingly threaten the shoreline. ‘Adaptation priority areas’ are identified where some assets will be protected and maintained in place while others will be moved. 

Questions have been raised about who should bear the costs of future coastal work with clarification that the SAP focus is on council owned assets. With lack of clarity around how regional budgets, central government and Auckland Transport (AT) will contribute to coastal asset protection, Mayor Wayne Brown has expressed concern about the potential for setting unintended precedents, citing previous coastal work in Ōrewa as an example.

Brown said, “Just because we may be the owner of a sacrificial reserve does not mean that we have to pay for the repair of that without asking the people immediately behind that to contribute seriously. We have made a mistake once and I don’t want to see that happen again.” 

Council’s Coastal Management Practice lead Natasha Carpenter, has confirmed that the work is strictly defined around publicly owned land and assets. These include exposed roading connections in Ōrewa where the priority is to maintain the connections; maintain the coastline and public access; and consider the diversity of use for coastal reserve land and how these can be addressed. 

Coastal adaptation specialists will then review feedback and prepare the full draft plan in the first half of 2025 for local board endorsement before mid-year implementation.

More information on the SAP: https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/shoreline-adaptation-plans-pakiri-to-mathesons-bay-ti-point-to-sandspit-and-snells-beach-to-orewa