Coast Care’s Lorraine Adams has lobbied for increased protection for the little penguins north of Holmes Wharf since 1992, but resisted the council’s plans for 30cm geotextile tube sand mattresses for the beach directly in front of the 252 penguin nesting boxes there.
When the council sought consent from the Otago Regional Council to install sand mattresses in the area, Ms Adams argued in favour of rock armouring.
Now, though, she wants to know how the council could promote sand mattresses for such a long time before seemingly turning its back on the plan.
Tender documents for the contract for the work, which close on January 31, allow for either sand mattresses or rock armouring.
"I just sort of wonder who’s in charge," Ms Adams said.
"They should have thought about it at the start."
Council assets manager Neil Jorgensen said while the proposed geotextile sand mattresses were originally believed to potentially save the council up to $200,000, now the council believed rock armouring was "quite a lot cheaper".
After questioning the consenting authority about the expected change in the proposed erosion protection, Ms Adams received an email from regional council consents officer Charles Horrell that stated Coast Care "as well as all other affected parties" would be re-notified if the proposal for sand mattresses at the beach changed.
"If there are significant changes sought then [the council] will need to reapply for consent, as the consents issued are specific to what was originally applied for/what the affected parties assessed."
Ms Adams said she would have to wait until she saw the council’s proposal for rock armouring in the area to say whether she approved of the potentially new plans.
"We’ll wait for the next round of consent permits," she said.
"It’s just got to be done — do it once and do it right."
In July, before the consent was granted, the district council’s roading manager, Michael Voss, said the progress on consents for the council’s planned erosion protection work for the site was happening "slowly" from the council’s perspective.
He told the Otago Daily Times earlier he had hoped the erosion-prevention work would begin last winter. Stone beaches such as the one at the Oamaru waterfront were "mobile and vertical" and "they’ve also got the incremental move inland as well".
He could not be reached for comment. When Mr Jorgensen told Waitaki district councillors last month it was possible rock armouring might be used for the planned erosion protection work, Cr Hugh Perkins asked whether the regional council was "relaxed" about the potential change in plans, and he was told it was.
He agreed with Ms Adams’ concerns about how the project had changed so far down the track.
"I think she’s asking a fair question," Cr Perkins said.
"The sand mattresses were advanced as a cheaper alternative than the rock — what has really changed? I don’t think we’ve heard an explanation of that."
Mr Jorgensen said there was wording in the contract that alerted tenderers "that there needs to be an extra step taken should the rock armouring be the cheapest option".
The budget of roughly $750,000 for the work would not be affected, he said.
