Wednesday Write In: Work together on protection plan

Devastation at the entrance to the two Clifton motor camps and the coastal entrance to the Cape Kidnappers gannet colony has again raised the spectre of why those responsible for this area can't work together on a protection plan.

The damage to the new Clifton Camp road built just over a year ago is significant and it's clear access to the camp, the gannets and the Clifton Marine Club, an important deep sea access point, is under threat for the third time in as many years.

DoC recently erected an artistically attractive and dominant sign celebrating Cape Kidnappers and all it has to offer at the Clifton access point. Within days, the combination of torrential flooding and the pounding of the ocean opened up a chasm on either side of the sign.

A 10-metre wide stretch of the Clifton camp was gouged out at the left of the sign and to the right, just in front of the entrance to the number one camping ground, a large section of the verge parking area, eroded and dropped away.

The DoC sign reflects the pride that many have in the Cape Kidnappers area. "Visit the gannets at home"; "See millions of years of history before your eyes"; "Find out about those who stepped this way before you"; "And what's being done to protect the land for those who come after".

That last statement is one Cape Coast residents and those across Hawke's Bay should be most concerned about. Even the word protection raises eyebrows and a challenge. What will be done to protect this land for those who come after?

Who's to blame for the loss of this land to erosion? Well nature and its unpredictable forces of ocean and flood obviously but also a refusal of our various local bodies and DoC to work together on a common sense protection plan which would obviously be for the common good.

Hard engineering solutions have been heartily rejected with threats of significant fines, even between councils, if anyone including the Clifton Reserve Society or the Clifton Marine Club attempt to protect their assets by engaging in protection work.

Last year's removal of the concrete along the verge, ugly as it was, took away the only protection for the road into the main Clifton camp, accelerating the erosion process.

It is ironic and a huge waste of expenditure and effort, that a third attempt at building a road on property acquired from Clifton Station is about to get under way without any plans for protection.

What's needed is a single protection plan, in keeping with the look and feel and natural environment of the coast, preferably involving the placement of large boulders or rocks (blue limestone or similar) along the crest from the number two camp through to the number one camp.

If all parties, including DoC, HBRC, HDC, the Clifton Marine Club and the Clifton Reserve Society, agreed to work together with local contractors and found a suitable source of raw material this protection could be put in place ahead of the new road being developed.

This long-term solution to erosion would deflect waves and help restore the beach, preventing turbulent seas from continually cutting under the soft base of the now exposed land.

Surely this as an opportunity for all these parties to get their heads together on a cohesive plan that would protect the coast and public access to the camp and Cape Kidnappers gannet viewing, and save an important heritage area.

It's not as if this is a new issue. Our local authorities have been aware of the threat of flooding and the impact of high seas for decades and nothing practical has been done.

Rather than all parties apparently working away at separate and often opposing agendas, it's time for a united effort at clean-up and protect this valuable public asset ahead of rebuilding the access road, otherwise we'll lose the lot.

Keith Newman, Haumoana