Some property owners on a hillside above a Far North beach are worried that a collapsing cliff will undermine their homes, with some already losing land to the ever-increasing slips.
The cliff, below Peninsula Parade at the northern end of Hihi Beach, about 6km south of Mangonui, has been crumbling on to parts of the beach below for a number of years, but residents say it got much worse after Cyclone Gabrielle hit last year, and it’s been continuing to crumble since.
The collapse has seen some property owners have to reduce the asking price for their properties while one has taken theirs off the market.
One property owner, who did not want to be named, lost several trees and about three metres of their property since the cyclone and fears more will come down.
One of the many slips at Hihi Beach that has some residents in Peninsula Parade, above the slip zone, worried that it will take their properties if it continues.
Roger Ackers, FNDC group manager - planning and policy, said the council is aware of a significant slip affecting properties at Compass Cove at Hihi and its Property and Facilities team has plans to remove a large tree at risk of falling on to a private property and home.
‘’This case highlights the wider problem of natural erosion all along our coastal environment, a problem that is being intensified by the impacts of climate change. In many instances there are public esplanade reserves or coastal reserves that serve as a buffer for coastal erosion. Where it can, the council will adjust its activities to mitigate erosion by keeping trees and vegetation in the soil to keep banks stable.
‘’For example, there is erosion on a Cable Bay reserve, and we have instructed contractors to stop mowing it from a certain point so that long grass can stabilise the sand. However, unless circumstances are exceptional, we do not intervene in coastal erosion or actively try and manage it.’’
The council has prepared a climate action policy to help communities prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change by developing resilience.
One Hihi resident said it was a worry that the hill continued to slip, and feared it was just a matter of time before large sections of the hillside came down, threatening their property.
The resident said some others had dropped their asking price for their property by up to $300,000 in an effort to sell them, but to no avail.
‘’It has been slipping in places for a few years now, but the cyclone (Gabrielle) really caused it to get worse and it’s just continued to slip away since.’’
A cliff at Hihi Beach has had a number of big slips that nearby residents worry could impact their homes.
Another said as the property had beautiful views and was in a high value area they paid huge rates to Far North District Council, but felt that the homeowners were not getting any support to stop the slip continuing.
‘’But really, I don’t know what, if anything they can do about it, but it would be good if they could do something. Or at least try. It’s a real worry for many of us.’’
One of the slips at Hihi Beach that is threatening properties.
However, another resident of Peninsula Parade said he had no concerns and felt the slippage was actually slowing down.
‘’I might be worried [that it could threaten his home] in a couple of hundred years, but I think it’s fine now,’’ he said.
The man said he had lost about half a metre of his land in the 10 years he had lived there, and a tree had slipped down. He said the council should maybe prevent people from walking up the hill to catch the spectacular views as if they went too close to the edge they could tumble down.
‘’There’s a walkway there and they should put a fence or gate across it to stop people going up. Last week I had to yell at a couple of kids who were sitting with their legs over the edge of the cliff, with nothing below them to hold it up. If it slipped, they would have been gone.’’
He also suggested replacing warning signs about the cliff face that had been removed in recent years.
Fresh soil from the slip at Hihi falls on to the beach below, in a potential risk to beachgoers.
Ackers said the council generally does not intervene in coastal erosion or actively try and manage it as this would be prohibitively expensive for ratepayers and would achieve uncertain and mostly short-term outcomes. If a property owner wants to manage erosion on any council land, they will require consent from Northland Regional Council and/or the Far North District Council, Ackers said.
‘’Where private property is directly impacted, the council will not take action except in exceptional circumstances. This approach was adopted by the council through its Climate Action Policy (Climate-Action-Policy.pdf at fndc.govt.nz).
‘’That policy also commits to working with communities to help them prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change by developing resilience.’’
This will be undertaken in four stages over the next 11 years.
‘’Climate adaptation is about what we can do differently to thrive in a changing world and the council is creating resources in collaboration with Climate Adaptation Te Tai Tokerau (CATT) to help communities jump start their adaptation planning. CATT is a partnership between all four Northland councils and tangata whenua representatives working to tackle tough climate adaptation issues,’’ he said.
He said the resources will be launched early in 2025 and are aimed at community groups wanting to start their own conversations around adapting to coastal erosion. They will help to kickstart parts of the process where communities take the lead.
Northland councils and tangata whenua representatives adopted New Zealand’s first region-wide climate adaptation strategy in April 2022. The Te Tai Tokerau Climate Adaptation Strategy is available at catt.org.nz.
