Residents scorn plan to dredge Matapouri Bay

Lew Ritchie says the plan is a kneejerk reaction to a few complaints. Picture / John Stone

A marine biologist says a dredging plan to try to stop the natural effects of time and tide at Northland's Matapouri Bay is "appalling stupidity".

Estuarine specialist Lew Ritchie is one of many residents opposed to Whangarei District Council's plans to dredge sand from the Matapouri Bay estuary and use it to build up the beach on an adjoining sandspit.

A movement of sand that has alarmed beachfront property owners is a natural process of tidal and storm action, he said.

"For goodness' sake, that's what the sea does, and then it eventually puts it all back again."

The district council applied last November for Northland Regional Council resource consent to dredge up to 20,000 cu m of sand from the shallow estuary. It also requested consent to remove a patch of mangroves.

District council parks manager Glenda Bostwick said the dredging and reclamation plan followed a council assessment of the impact of sand movement at Matapouri Bay.

The council was also responding to concerns from beachfront property owners who wanted boulders dumped in front of the dunes to hold the sand - a move that would spoil the beach's aesthetic, she said.

The problem of sand accretion in the area had been recognised since monitoring began 60 years ago.

The dredging for which the council had sought resource consents was part of a series of plans "to make the beach more resilient".

Stage one, carried out last year, included restoring the shape of the dunes and planting them with native dune plants that would trap sand.

Ms Bostwick said the dredging was necessary because the estuary was not flushing properly, partly due to a build-up of displaced sand off the beach.

"There is always a risk of the sand coming back in, but there will be some immediate advantages that would last for the medium term," she said.

Mr Ritchie disagreed with the council's assessment of the situation.

"The beach is now and has been all year in an absolutely perfect state," he said.

The sand shift was part of a highly dynamic system of interchange between the estuarine and beach environments.

"Even when the estuary empties [of sand] after a storm and heavy rain it doesn't stay empty," Mr Ritchie said.

The council was having a "knee-jerk reaction" to a few, largely absentee homeowners' complaints.

The proposal would spoil the estuary for the family-friendly water activities it was popular for, and also destroy shellfish beds, he said.

"The future for Northland is definitely sea related. People want to see [a] clean, green, natural and sustainable - and not man-made... beach environment."

Councils should adopt a more pragmatic approach to coastal erosion by limiting foreshore development, he said.

They should also seek a buyer-beware amendment to the Local Government Act making it clear that people who wanted to build on those areas should carry the risk - and not the council, Mr Ritchie said.

"If they want to live there then they have to take what Mother Nature and Father Time chuck at them."

Another resident, Andrew McClurg, felt the council was "in a bit of a cleft stick" by having to respond to some ratepayers' concerns.

"But I take issue with what they're doing and the enormity of what they're doing," Mr McClurg said.

"There should be remedial work that serves the property owners' needs without encroaching on to the public beach area."

Mr McClurg said many locals were alarmed that dredging would spoil the estuary's naturally sandy bed.

Submissions on the application to dredge the estuary and remove mangroves are expected to be considered by the council's judicial committee this month.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)