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The dune system between Mangawhai and Pakiri has ‘deflated’ over the past 50 years, a long-time resident told the sand mining appeals hearing in the Environment Court on August 3.
Former Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society chair Richard Bull said he had lived in the area for 82 years and witnessed a gradual deflation of the sand dunes right down the coast, especially in recent years.
“We live right behind the sand dune and in 2001, we put in a new window that looks north-east,” he told the court. “You could see glimpses of the Pacific Ocean. Today, I can stand in the same place and see large areas of ocean with no trouble at all. My house hasn’t moved, I’ve only shrunk … I’m only a layman, but I’ve watched this happen all my life.”
He said entire dune system had disappeared.
Bull was speaking at the appeal by McCallum Brothers Ltd (MBL) against the refusal last year to allow it to continue to dredge sand in the offshore coastal marine area off Pakiri and Mangawhai.
The plight and future of the critically endangered fairy tern, or tara iti, which breeds in the area, is central to the case of the 16 groups and individuals opposing the continuation of sand mining.
The court heard that the bird’s future was even more in danger now, following the extreme storms earlier this year, which led to the loss of five fairy terns, taking the total number of birds left to no more than 35.
The case was adjourned on August 3 and will resume at the Omaha Marae in Leigh for cultural evidence on August 21.
Before the adjournment, MBL’s consultant planner David Hay was criticised by Judges Jeff Smith and Aidan Warren for relying only on the assessment of MBL’s own cultural consultant, Tame Te Rangi, to decide that cultural effects wouldn’t be significant. Smith said Hay was obliged to consider all material facts, not least the concerns of Ngati Manuhiri. Hay said it had been a challenging application and he he had thought he could rely fully on Te Rangi’s assessment.
