Waikato resident Josephine Poland talks about the erosion that threatens her beachside home.
Video / Mike Scott
A ticking timer weighs heavily over the residents of Port Waikato as they work tirelessly to figure out how to slow down erosion before it swallows the west coast town.
Recently three properties on the bank of Sunset Beach became uninhabitable after storms packed with towering seas battered the country earlier this month.
Sunset Beach Surf Life Saving Club president Malcolm Beattie said the storm claimed around three metres of the beach and washed away the only accessway they had at the time.
"We got a 4.2m tide and swells up to six and seven metres that just pounded the hell out of the coast," he said.
"At that stage you could hardly see the sea through the dunes, it has changed significantly."
Now her backyard is giving out, sloping down the bank and coming to a sharp drop - she can no longer walk to the beach but she does have a million dollar view.
Poland has just watched her neighbours' homes down the road become uninhabitable and knows that this fate is coming for her home next.
The view from Josephine Poland's home in the 90's. Photo / Mike Scott
"Unless something is done to slow things down, what is happening to them is going to happen to us. It's sobering, [it's] my whole life, [it's] everything I worked for," she said,
"We buy a home with the idea of having an investment for old age and that's just getting washed away by the sea."
Beattie believed more than 40 metres of the beach has been lost over the past two decades, and said in that time the surf club has lost three rescue towers and two buildings.
He is concerned that the coastal town could be wiped out completely.
"[I'm] starting a campaign - Save the Port," he said.
"We're not going to sit back ... we're going to stand up and save the port, save this area."
Locals are now asking Waikato District and the Waikato Regional Councils to do more.
"Erosion is one of those issues that seems to be more politically motivated to say well it's not our issue, but you can't walk away from the people," said Beattie.
"I think the big thing we need from council, first of all, is a commitment to support."
Port Waikato resident Josephine Poland knows that erosion is coming for her home. Photo / Mike Scott
On the matter, Poland said she felt like she was being played.
"One of my gripes is that when we do meet with council they underline the fact that they aren't there to protect private property," she said.
"In a way it feels like we are being set up, people would say that they [councils] are showing enough goodwill to say they have done something but not enough to actually help."
Waikato District Council's projects and innovation manager Kurt Abbot said under the Local Government Act, councils are required to fund projects based on the beneficiary pays principle.
"In this case, any benefits of works to reduce erosion would be substantially if not wholly private. Waikato District Council and Waikato Regional Council are supporting as much as possible, but funding is not available to implement physical works in a situation like this," he said.
Abbot said council's are waiting with interest for new legislation that is being developed by the government, including the proposed Climate Change Adaptation Act which is hoped to address the complex legal and technical issues associated with management options and financing.
One of the biggest hurdles to overcome in Port Waikato is finding a solution that can withstand the west coast conditions.
"Our research suggests that a sea wall or other structure would need to be very expensive and substantial to survive the wave climate, and may in fact make erosion worse by causing the beach immediately in front of the structure to erode faster," said Abbot.
He said council was now looking to renourish the beach with new sand - where sand lost to erosion is placed back on the beach.
"This is not cheap, and high tides and/or storm events could remove all sand placed on the beach in a matter of days. However, we think it is worth trying and may buy some time and blunt the worst impacts."
Port Waikato residents are working hard to come up with a solution to slow down erosion. Photo / Mike Scott
Paying for a solution has also got locals scratching their heads and Beattie was concerned beachfront homeowners would not get support from the entire town.
"As much as the ratepayer wants erosion to be fixed, they don't want to spend the money on the beach and that's been proven in small communities where the locals who were on the front of the beach didn't get the support of those inland who were safe," said Beattie.
Abbot said councils were funding and supporting a resource consent process for sand push ups but Poland indicated this process was too slow and cost too much.
"I think right now they could be helping us to mitigate the damage that's been done while we find solutions for ourselves and that would start by not charging us for the resource consents."
"We can't do anything about protecting the base of the sand dunes until we can get resource consent."
