Remnants of Haumoana home bowled

While his Haumoana house is gone for good Edwin Derricutt is moving up. Photo / Warren Buckland

Tide and bureaucracy have claimed a Haumoana house, its remnants demolished by a digger yesterday.

The pile of wood and roofing iron sits on Haumoana beach shingle, but when Edwin Derricutt bought it in 2002 it had "a lovely grass lawn".

"There are very few places where you get this close to the elements - I guess we weren't aware just how close we would be getting," he said. For six years it was "stunning and beautiful" and protected by a seawall.

"It got damaged in a storm and when we came to repair it we discovered the council had made it a non-complying activity to even lift up a hammer and maintain your existing wall.

"A second storm hit about a fortnight later and just destroyed it, because we weren't able to strengthen it. In the space of two high tides - about 12 hours - it took away 9m or 10m of land. That was pretty much it from that point on."

The architect moved to Auckland but returns often to visit family.

He chose to arrange the demolition himself, saying it would likely cost more if organised by Hastings District Council, which served a notice to fix or remove the unsafe house with undermined foundations.

The house was insured when inundated in 2008.

"We were very lucky to get out of it with the skin of our teeth. Now it is a matter of making sure it is safe for trespassers."

He said the land was declared unsafe for a new structure but he is undeterred, planning to replace it with a concrete lighthouse.

"Lighthouses are designed to be in the worst and gnarliest places in the planet and it could have a couple of guest apartments at the top." When asked what hope he had of receiving planning permission he said: "About as much hope as the Hawke's Bay Regional Council and Hastings District Council have of discouraging me from applying."

Local residents, represented by Walking on Water (WOW) have lobbied councils for decades on coastal protection. Hastings District Council proposed an $18 million groyne field to trap shingle but it was to be paid for by coastal ratepayers, who baulked at the council design.

The only other option offered was managed retreat.

WOW spokesman Keith Newman said urgency needed to be given to constructing a small groyne field, "which is what we have proposed for seven years".