Letters to the Editor: Beach fires destroying nesting areas

A banded dotterel/pohowera nesting at Awatoto Beach.

In reference to Juliet Greig’s correspondence (Hawke’s Bay Today, September 16), I was surprised that a councillor would say that “lighting fires is fun”. Greig stated this with a qualifier, that the fires on Marine Parade beach should not interfere with human health.

All fires are prohibited at beaches, parks and reserves at all times and the numerous recent fires along Awatoto beach are unsightly, of nuisance and destroying habitat.

For the past few weeks, I have been observing banded dotterel/pohowera nests at Awatoto Beach. Every week I see more active fires smouldering away.

The birds and eggs are very well camouflaged, and most people don’t know they are there.

The birds (attempt to) nest from south of the Aquarium right down to about the last car park on Marine Parade.

One nest had a fire lit almost right next to it - at first the tenacious little bird hung in there with her one last egg. Now she has a new nest still in the same vicinity and still putting up with much disturbance.

Admittedly, the birds and eggs are very well camouflaged, and most people don’t know they are there.

Banded dotterels are endemic to New Zealand, their conservation status is “declining” (New Zealand Birds Online). There is no signage or protection for the birds in that area - if they go from Awatoto Beach they’ll be gone from there forever.

Driftwood provides shelter and harbours invertebrates, etc, that the birds rely on for food.

Does the council have any authority over these fires? Please stop them!

Lynne Anderson, Napier

Adding up tax figures

In answer to Shaneel Lal’s confusion over National’s foreign buyer tax figures (HBT Monday, September 18) Here are a couple of ways anyone could make them add up.

There are 100,000 properties in New Zealand over the $2 million threshold, some significantly higher, so the total value of this stock is $300 billion-plus. If the pre-Covid foreign house buying rate of 3 per cent is applied then that equals $9b per year in sales, roughly twice the number needed to make National’s figures work.

Alternatively, given the 4000 sales to foreign buyers each year pre-Covid, then again the figures work if only 1600 per year, or less than half, come from this pool of 100,000 high-value properties.

Over the four years in question that’s only 6 per cent of the total high-value stock which seems a pretty reasonable assumption to me, and should be easily understandable without the need for the complex spreadsheets that National’s detractors are demanding. Perhaps it is they who are the fools?

John Denton, Napier

Trees not always the right solution

Garth Eyles (HBT, 16/9/23) expresses concerns that native planting on berms between river and stopbank could worsen our flood damage. More frequent major floods will likely catch those plantings and cause the damage he fears.

Similarly in Wairoa, planting up river banks in areas close to town will cause more silt to be held at the edges and a consequent narrowing of the waterway. Where then will the water go? Into the town obviously. However, planting banks further upstream in the catchments is probably useful. How far up is the difficult question.

Garth Eyles has a lot of long-term local experience and he is right that trees, native or not, are not always going to be the best solution.

Judy Bogaard, Wairoa