The Long Term Plan with colourful "Napier Now", "Talk to Us" and "Have Your Say" badges is well laid out.
The opening statement: "A whopping 99 per cent say they are satisfied with council's performance and the city environment" is from a council survey. Council takes these results as a mandate to promote its wish lists and yet again, Westshore erosion does not get a mention.
"Key projects" should include Napier's biggest disaster to the environment since the Napier Earthquake.
Fixing this natural regional asset is crucial and a prudent investment for residents and tourism. Few councillors appreciate Westshore Beach was once an expansive sandy beach and a regular summer venue for thousands of Hawke's Bay residents and visitors. Seems too few remember safe swimming, crowded carparks, family picnics, body surfing, ping pong drops, surf carnivals, dragging for flounder, digging for tuatua and throngs of kids building sandcastles.
Council's expedient Nourishment Scheme is gradually destroying Westshore Beach, which has created a need for other summer attractions for our seaside city. The latest projects include Pandora Pond Water Sports and a Wave Rider Pool. Absolutely fine providing they are affordable, enhance the environment, protect the estuary ecosystem and the wave pool is privately operated at zero cost to ratepayers.
Thankfully, the highly impractical Sandy Beach Lagoon and the inland Wave Garden are finally off the books. Council seriously considering these projects was irrational. I found Napier mayor Bill Dalton's comment on investing in the city - "We need to spend money to make money" - sounded more like advice from a stockbroker than a provider of core services.
Hardinge Rd erosion features in the Long Term Plan but Westshore is missing even though it suffers identical but greater starvation of replenishment due to port development. Coastal engineers agree the vital port shipping channel is the principal cause and a rock seawall (similar to Hardinge Rd) is the proven solution.
Unbelievably, an estimate of cost to install hard engineering, using local limestone, does not exist. Unbelievably, no one has insisted the port replace sand that would otherwise transport to Westshore. Unbelievably, council has refused to negotiate reparation from the port for impeding coastal sediment.
The commitment to Barbara Arnott and Bill Dalton still stands: "If NCC can prove they are right and I am wrong, I will accept and support the engineers' solutions." Instead of discussion and explanation, I have been given vague answers that do not address the issues. Sheer frustration led to my first submission in 2011 and my last in 2014.
In 2011, I questioned nourishment as the long-term solution because the amount of material dumped on the beach was inadequate to counter erosion and because loose stones to replace sand will continue to fail. I opposed the breakwater because it was unnecessary and extravagant when simple strengthening to existing protection was needed.
In 2014, my submission requested the application be put on hold until the Cowell Report (a review of my erosion assessment) was available. A short delay for an application lodged in 2009 and a report commissioned in 2011 was not unreasonable. The request was rejected but Mayor Dalton agreed to chase up the report. The council abandoned his report in February. The submission also requested Westshore Erosion be listed as a major project in the Annual Plan.
Assistance from the Ombudsman was necessary to get a response to five outstanding letters on damage and risks. Mayor Dalton immediately arranged a workshop to inform councillors and is currently arranging another seminar so engineers can explain why council is pursuing "managed retreat" to mitigate erosion when hard engineering is the proper option.
The Napier council wasted $450,000 on reports based on cyclical erosion so they became worthless after Beca Consultants finally conceded the beach is in a state of permanent erosion.
Council has failed to recognise the real cause, the actual problem and the proper remedy. Mayor Dalton's initiative would be constructive if he appointed an independent engineer to confirm or refute my assessment that he described as comprehensive and well researched.
After getting the offshore breakwater thrown out and saving the city $2.4 million, I am confident in the hard engineering solution but not during the term of this council.
Meanwhile, the thousands wasted on legal fees, regional council charges etc is written off. Making a submission to Napier council is futile.
-Larry Dallimore is a long-time Westshore resident and campaigner for the beach.
-Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion, and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz
