Dunedin beaches seriously eroded

Parts of Dunedin's St Clair and Middle beaches have again been seriously eroded by heavy seas which have pounded the coast during the past month.

Dunedin City Council parks and reserves team leader Martin Thompson said there had been significant loss of sand and some localised erosion, which had exposed the sand sausages to the east of the wooden groyne.

‘‘Work to recover these will be carried out over the next few days, along with the transportation of dredged sand to replenish the stockpile at the eastern end of the beach,'' he said.

The top of the ‘‘reno mattress'', which was installed near Moana Rua Rd in July 2007, had also been exposed. However, no significant erosion had occurred at this stage.

Since last June, the council had spent nearly $1.2 million on repairing and controlling the erosion, and about 30,000 cubic metres of sand had been moved or replaced in the area.

Mr Thompson said the council had begun collecting data on sea currents, the sea floor, sediment movement and storm weather patterns in a bid to find an effective solution to the problem. It was hoped a solution could be identified by 2010, he said.

Until then, council staff would continue to monitor the situation and work would be carried out as necessary, he said.