Erosion action sought by Te Rauone residents

Rei and Ray Owens (in the distance) inspect the sand below their Harington Pt Rd garage, which...
Rei and Ray Owens (in the distance) inspect the sand below their Harington Pt Rd garage, which they have protected from erosion by placing a large rock wall beneath it. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
Frustrated by the lack of action to remedy erosion problems at Te Rauone beach, on Otago Peninsula, members of the Otakou community are promising to increase the pressure to get something done.

Community representative Hoani Langsbury spoke at Otago Regional Council's engineering and hazards committee meeting this week, promising the whole community would be represented at the next meeting to hear a report on the latest wave and current studies.

"We want to keep the pressure on," he said after the meeting.

The regional council and Port Otago had both undertaken research on the decades-old problem, but the community had seen no action, he said.

Yet the problems at Middle beach in the city had seen an almost immediate response.

"We want the same consideration as the permanent dwellings in the town."

Members of the community and runanga had sought relief from the effects of the erosion from local authorities many times during the past century, he said.

The community was determined to find a solution that worked to protect the dwellings and other local amenities and wanted the regional council to make it a priority.

"There have been many reports in the past 25 years, but nothing has come out of them."

Concerns had become greater as more of the beach eroded in recent storms, eating into people's properties and threatening garages.

With Port Otago's "Project Generation" on the horizon, the community wanted the issues addressed before larger ships and deeper channels arrived, he said.

Resident Rei Owens said her family, in the more than 20 years they had lived there, had spent about $5000 transporting rocks to protect their sea-front.

"It keeps on getting slashed away and we keep on repairing and repairing it."

Each time a storm hit, she worried about her property, knowing the sea was creeping closer, she said.

Regional council environmental engineering and natural hazards director Gavin Palmer said after the meeting, a report on wave and current monitoring was being finalised, with the aim it would be presented at the next engineering and hazards committee in six weeks.

It should improve understanding of the behaviour of waves and currents, but it was too early to say whether any recommendations would result from the technical report, he said.

 

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