The Dunedin City Council has applied for retrospective resource consent to avoid any possibility of a legal entanglement over emergency beach repair work at St Clair and Middle beaches almost two years ago.
The consents, lodged with the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council, were for a series of projects undertaken following storms in 2007, which caused severe erosion and threatened parts of Kettle Park.
The consents covered the transportation of rocks and sand to the eroded areas, the construction of rock "reno mattresses" to protect the beaches and dunes, and the removal of clay from the area for safety reasons.
The consents also allowed for more work to be undertaken should a repeat of the erosion occur this winter.
Yesterday, council parks and reserves team leader Martin Thompson said the five-year consents would cover the time it was expected to take to finish new beach management plans for the area.
Work was continuing on a series of projects at the beaches, including a GPS survey by two University of Otago students, mapping the changing form and volume of sand on the beaches, he said.
The information would be used in a year-long computer modelling project, beginning later this year, which aimed to help identify a long-term solution to erosion in the area.
Options ranged from a multimillion-dollar sea wall extension to simply continuing the re-stocking of sand.
In the meantime, the council had a budget of $400,000 to maintain a "holding pattern" of remedial work in the area, Mr Thompson said.
The council's legal advice had been to seek resource consent for the works undertaken to date, despite their authorisation under emergency powers, he said.
"At some point you still have to go back and formalise it, or do the paperwork," he said.
There had been a good natural build-up of sand at the beaches since July last year and dunes were not under imminent threat, but that could change if a series of storms was to hit - something that could happen at any time, Mr Thompson said.
The public had until April 15 to make a submission.
A hearing was not expected before June, he said.