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The first of three independent resource consent hearings into unauthorised seawalls built along the esplanade reserve at four neighbouring properties in Point Wells Road was held in Albany on Tuesday, April 23.
Paul Stacey and Dale Smith were applying to demolish an existing unauthorised seawall and replace it with a new seawall, and gain retrospective consent for a boat ramp and groyne structure, at 250A and 250B Point Wells Road.
A second hearing into an application for retrospective consent for an existing seawall and works at 252 Point Wells Road, by Warwick and Erin Mortimer, is due to be heard at the Rodney Local Board offices in Elizabeth Street, Warkworth today, Monday, April 29, while a third, also seeking retrospective consent for a seawall and works, at 284 Point Wells Road, by Paul Dale, is scheduled to be heard in Albany on May 6.
The same three commissioners are sitting at each hearing – Karyn Kurzeja in the chair, with Hugh Leersnyder and Gavin Lister – and in each case, Auckland Council is recommending that consent be refused.
Council experts maintain that any concerns around coastal erosion could be better addressed by more natural means, such as planting within the coastal marine area, and on the foreshore and esplanade reserve.
