Without intervention, public assets including a wastewater pipeline, the Freese Park playground, toilets and a carpark were in danger of disappearing into the Hokianga Harbour.
Beach access and landscaping were also part of the project.
As well as the council-owned Freese Park Reserve, the seawall would protect privately owned land at 7 Freese Park Rd and 308 Hokianga Dr.
The owners of those properties had agreed, after negotiations, to help pay for the project.
That was necessary because the council was barred from funding structures to protect private property, the spokesperson said.
The seawall would consist of large boulders placed on geotechnical fabric to stop soil being washed into the harbour.
The council consulted with the community in 2021 on options for protecting Freese Park.
The options included different types of seawall, “managed retreat” (with planting to try to stabilise the dunes) or doing nothing.
While managed retreat and doing nothing would have been cheaper, having to move council infrastructure would have incurred its own costs in the long-term.
The project was blessed by Ngāti Korokoro kaitiaki on February 24. Council-owned company Far North Holdings is managing construction.
Weather and tides may affect the expected June completion date.
In 2019, the Government spent $3.2 million rebuilding sections of the seawall alongside State Highway 12 in nearby Ōpononi.
