Larry Dallimore: Inefficiency hinders beach repairs

Larry Dallimore

Many Hawke's Bay ratepayers are concerned about the sorry state of Westshore Beach and several residents are genuinely worried for their well-being. I believe parts of the Reserve and some very expensive city infrastructure will suffer damage before private property. Mayor Dalton can explain why his council will not fix Westshore Beach but some brief background could explain the current dilemma. After six years of accelerating erosion to the upper beach and inshore, the problem has gone from council's "too hard" basket to the HBRC Coastal Strategy Committee.

This committee is the result of a "last resort" complaint in 2012 to the Ombudsman's office, which directed HBRC to answer basic questions on erosion issues. The complaint was satisfied by a meeting with an expert coastal scientist, who later wrote another very expensive 200-odd-page report on the gravel coast.

A recommendation attached to this report by Professor Komar was to form a committee to consider coastal erosion due to climate change. This committee is fully supported because it has an important task to formulate a strategy to address sea level rise in 50 to 100 years. Unfortunately, this projected event has absolutely nothing to do with the 30-year man-made erosion problem at Westshore Beach.

Due to council's failed nourishment scheme, the beach is now considerably weaker and exposed to extreme damage from the next inevitable severe swell. Councillors and engineers disagree that city assets are at risk and we can safely assume any major damage will be put down to unforeseen high seas. In the meantime, the entire problem has been left to a committee of two Councillors from each of NCC, HDC and HBRC, which is expected to formulate a strategy in two to three years.

The greatest fear is climate change will outpace any solutions. The "Talking Point" by Councillor Tania Kerr, HDC member on the Coastal Strategy Committee, confirmed the system is "not fit for purpose". Alarm bells should be ringing when a particularly dedicated member describes how progress is stymied when a joint committee takes "three months to organise diaries so three councils could meet" and "another 15 months to have Terms of Reference agreed upon and signed off". Cr Kerr adds, "the system is not helping achieve an outcome nor is it cost effective". This situation is bordering on outrageous.

The Coastal Strategy Committee has the services of Tonkin & Taylor consultants and the expertise of their coastal engineer who was instrumental in forcing NCC to rethink the Offshore Whakarire Avenue Breakwater. In an effort to finally establish the best option for Westshore, I requested another discussion with the engineer at no cost to HBRC.I simply wanted to confirm "last resort" hard engineering is the best solution to protect land on a beach in a state of permanent erosion. Two written requests to the chairperson since July have been denied.

NCC wasted five years battling with HBRC over legal issues for the construction of the Whakarire Avenue Breakwater. In 2014, the council was forced to finally accept flawed engineering so the extravagant offshore breakwater was canned for a better cheaper less intrusive strengthened seawall, as suggested in 2009.

The well publicised fiasco between HDC and HBRC at Clifton also resulted in waste and inadequate protection.

The dysfunctional relationship between the councils is set up to continue and will ensure solutions will only follow devastation.

Past legal battles over definitions, differences with documentation, disputes over areas of jurisdiction, conflicts with separate expert advice and discord between council engineers will become history with a unitary council. These limiting factors should be under one authority for the entire coastline so time and funds are not continually and needlessly wasted. Plus our precious beaches will have a chance to stay intact for future generations.

The structure and interactions between separate councils are farcical and need to change. The elements which threaten our coastal environment should be controlled within strict terms set down in the NZ Coastal Policy Statement 2010 and we do not need input from the obviously disinterested councillors seconded to make up the numbers.

If coastal erosion and saving what's left of Westshore Beach were the only issues of concern, a well reasoned vote would be YES for amalgamation.

-Larry Dallimore is a long-time Westshore resident and campaigner for the beach.

-Views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz

-Viewpoints on the amalgamation debate can be submitted for consideration and will be used as long as no council resources, money, time or expertise are used in their preparation. This is a requirement of the Local Government Act 2002.