Clubrooms sand pile lumpier than expected

A plan to deter thieves and vandals uncovered a dirty secret yesterday.

The St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club was being cleared of sand which had been piling against the building, allowing mischief-makers to gain access to the roof.

"We've been getting the building burgled and vandalised and they've been getting up on to the roof of the building by climbing up the pile of sand on the side," patrol captain Stefhan Brown said yesterday.

"So we wanted to clear it away and stop people getting on the building and smashing windows."

However, contractors removing the sand had uncovered fill contaminated with rubble, Dunedin City Council parks officer Renee Gordon said.

"Getting the sand cleared from the roller doors before the summer season starts is something we organise annually, so the lifeguards can get access to the beach. We've been doing it twice a year for the last three years," she said.

"The clubrooms get broken into all the time, so we also cleared away a lot of sand on the side of the building, to stop them climbing up.

"But the digger boys uncovered fill material with rocks and lumps of concrete in it, instead of sand."

The contaminated soil was trucked 1km along John Wilson Ocean Dr to be used as landfill.

"We had it removed and taken to an area along John Wilson Dr where there's a natural slump. But a couple of bits of concrete have fallen down on to the beach, which we'll get cleaned up" she said.

"We try to keep all the clean sand in the system."

- nigel.benson@odt.co.nz