Archive | Coast

Published 20 December 2010

Environmental Defence Society chairman Gary Taylor said on Friday a framework proposed by the society & the owners of land at New Chums Beach (Wainuiototo) on the Coromandel could protect the beach forever.

The framework would create a significant public reserve on the land adjoining the beach, which includes a regenerating kauri forest. Mr Taylor said the New Zealand Coastal Trust – which the society established to protect special areas of coastline – would facilitate purchase of the land, with a considerable gift from the landowners.

Te Punga Punga Station landowner John Darby said the landowners had always recognised the important natural values of New Chums Beach and had always planned to protect the beach in perpetuity: "We have been in discussions with the Environmental Defence Society for some time on how we can protect special areas of the coastline through the establishment of the NZ Coastal Trust. Such a trust will allow private landowners to work with the Environmental Defence Society to partner with the Government & local government, and communities, to protect iconic, unspoilt areas of coast for the public good."

Mr Darby & Mr Taylor have formally invited the Government to be involved in protecting the beach catchment for the purpose of creating a public reserve. Mr Taylor met Prime Minister John Key last month to discuss the proposal and officials have been asked to report in the new year.

Mr Taylor said New Chums was a special area of the New Zealand coast: "It is a beach of exceptional beauty & conservation values. There has been considerable public debate over how the beach & land behind it can be preserved to maintain its natural, unspoilt feel. Clearly, if established as a public reserve, the area will be protected in perpetuity.

"The landowners are prepared to make a considerable private gift to help to establish this reserve. Given the public benefits which would accrue from the establishment of a reserve, we believe the Government should also make a significant & matching contribution.”

Mr Taylor said the Coastal Trust was an independent charitable conservation trust, chaired by retired High Court judge Peter Salmon QC, which could be the initial purchaser of the land, with contributions from both the landowners & the Government. It could then vest it in the Crown or local or regional government.

"Whichever approach is adopted, we believe this model carries the potential to create a new approach to protecting special areas through public-private conservation partnerships."

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Attribution: Society-Darby release, story written by Bob Dey for the Bob Dey Property Report.

Published 29 September 2010

The Auckland Regional Council announced the $15 million purchase of its final regional park, Te Muri, on Monday. It’s next to the first regional park, bought at Wenderholm in 1965.

The 407ha block at Te Muri on the Mahurangi coast has a boundary on the northern side of the Puhoi River. It backs onto Te Muri Beach, a 1km sandy beach already owned by the regional council.

Council parks & heritage committee chairman Sandra Coney said this was “a critical purchase to protect the landscape of the Puhoi River, Wenderholm Regional Park & the wider area.

“The purchase protects the wonderful vista of the estuary and of Wenderholm.  The whole stretch of coast from Mahurangi to Waiwera is now protected in a natural state for all time. Plus Te Muri is stunning land in its own right.”

The council bought the property under the Public Works Act and in agreement with the estate of Peter Schischka. It bought the beachfront from the Schischka family in 1973, but this was only accessible by walking through an estuary at low tide.

The property will provide expanded camping opportunities and there will be a rentable bach. It will continue to be a working farm.

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Attribution: Council release, story written by Bob Dey for the Bob Dey Property Report.

Published 9 August 2009

The Environmental Defence Society campaigns for controls on coastal development, and now its senior policy analyst, Raewyn Peart, has turned the campaign into a highly readable book on New Zealanders’ beachgoing heritage, Castles in the sand.

It’s a book that can be read for its history, containing numerous photographs of the changing human occupation of coastal settlements, particularly the 1950s bach-building era and the more recent replacement of those baches with seaside mansions.

But throughout, Ms Peart goes beyond merely recounting events to look at the impacts. As she wrote in her introduction: “Environmental management efforts to date have not been up to the job of ensuring that the public interest in the coast is protected when development occurs. Successive governments have adopted a laissez-faire approach to coastal management….

“We need to improve our design of coastal housing and locate it more carefully. We need to harness new development so that it restores areas of the coast which are degraded. We need to ensure that there is ample public access to the coast. And we need to safeguard low-cost holiday options such as cabins & campgrounds.

“But more importantly & strategically, we need to identify & protect parts of our rural coastline which should never be developed, those areas which should remain wild so that our children & grandchildren can continue to enjoy the open & undeveloped coast.”

The book runs to detail on recent developments, including the financially unsuccessful Crystal Waters at Cable Bay in Northland, events surrounding foiled plans for development at Pakiri and development of Omaha, up the east coast from Auckland, and the history of attempts to urbanise Ocean Beach in Hawke’s Bay.

Among the lessons from the past, Ms Peart argues that the supply of coastal properties must be linked to the medium-term demand of the next decade, so excess coastal subdivision is not driven by speculation that forecloses alternative development options for future generations.

As well as documenting the past, Ms Peart argues the long-term future. Assume global warming results in raised sea levels and you have this scenario: “We are also likely to see increased storms & heavy rain events. The cost of protecting poorly located homes & infrastructure from the sea, and of repairing erosion & flood damage, will be enormous, as will the consequential social & economic costs.”

The book documents – with optimism – some recent projects, starting with the salvaging of Tiritiri Matangi Island, off the top of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, after 130 years of farming; Watercare Services Ltd’s restoration of the coastal edge at Mangere; the coast care initiative, in particular at Papamoa, again a salvage operation after poor or thoughtless management; the path out of financial disaster for the people of Matauri Bay, with bach development that doesn’t result in an expensive wall of housing along the beachfront; and Britomart developer Peter Cooper’s Mountain Landing project on the northern fringe of the Bay of Islands.

In her closing chapter, Ms Peart raises the question of how officialdom handles development proposals in New Zealand: The assumption is that development will occur; the only question is density.

Ms Peart says the first question, rarely asked, ought to be: Should there be any development on the land at all? The next key question she believes should be put is: What density & type of buildings are appropriate, and where should they be located?

The reader who ponders at this point can probably compile a ready list of further questions: Why build ugly? Why build aggressively, out of harmony with the receiving environment?

The Environmental Defence Society proposed this year that the Government should establish an independent coastal commission to oversee a change in management, which Ms Peart expounds in her 276-page book, but so far it has not won support from the Government.

The notion of a commission coming up with a coastal policy statement & coastal design guidelines will be anathema to those who believe you should have the right to build what you want on your property. One answer to that, in this book, is that absence of control will mean there are no open spaces.

Castles in the Sand: What’s happening to the New Zealand coast? By Raewyn Peart. Publisher (& supplier of numerous photographs) Craig Potton. Retail price $49.99.

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Attribution: Book, EDS campaigns, story written by Bob Dey for the Bob Dey Property Report.

Published 14 April 2008

The Auckland Regional Council has approved preliminary consultation to start on draft principles, directions & concepts for a regional marine farming policy framework, and indicative excluded areas.

The council map of indicative excluded areas covers the whole of the region’s coastline – halfway up the Kaipara Harbour, around Waiheke & Great Barrier Islands – leaving open water as the only prospect for aquaculture.

Regional strategy & planning committee chairman Paul Walbran said consultation would begin this month and proceed in several stages. He anticipates that formal notification of a proposed variation to the Auckland regional plan: Coastal, and subsequent submissions to it, will follow this process in early 2009.

Cllr Walbran said the council would use the new legislative tools provided by the 2005 aquaculture law reforms (invited private plan changes & excluded areas) to best determine where new aquaculture management areas might be established and where they are inappropriate.

“This does not affect any existing marine farming operations, the continuation of which is covered by the 2005 law reforms.

“We have noted the developing trend for offshore aquaculture elsewhere in the country, and at this early stage consider that large new aquaculture ventures would be best directed away from the shore. We are working on ways to provide flexibility for various smaller-scale aquaculture developments within an otherwise broadly restrictive aquaculture policy framework.

“The policies we are developing could have major effects on future generations of Aucklanders and their use & enjoyment of our coastal waters, so it makes complete sense to start cautiously. Our policy framework is a starting point from which discussion can begin.”

Cllr Walbran said extensive areas of Auckland’s coast were generally inappropriate for large new aquaculture ventures, but various smaller operations might well be accommodated within this approach.

 “The reasons for such a precautionary approach are clear. The Auckland region is the largest population centre in the country and it sits beside some of the most highly valued & used coastal areas in New Zealand. Our coastal waters are already under significant pressure from often mutually exclusive competing uses, and this will only increase as the region’s population grows.

“Aucklanders have traditionally made great use of their coastal marine area. Popular recreational pursuits include boating, swimming & fishing, but people also place huge value on being able to get away from it all to undisturbed natural areas. Tangata whenua have very strong connections with the coast and, in addition, many coastal areas have high ecological & conservation value.

“Our coast is also important for economic reasons: commercial fishing, shipping, tourism & aquaculture. Let’s also not forget that the Hauraki Gulf is recognised as being of national significance by the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Act 2000.”

Earlier stories:

25 March 2008: 2 Coromandel interim aquaculture management areas declared

19 April 2006: High natural character beats economic benefit as Kaipara mussel farm consent overturned

30 January 2002: Environment Court approves Pegasus Bay project

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Attribution: Company statement, story written by Bob Dey for this website.

Published 10 March 2008

The submission period has opened on the proposed New Zealand coastal policy statement. Submissions close on Wednesday 7 May.

The Minister of Conservation has appointed a board of inquiry headed by Alternative Environment Court Judge Shonagh Kenderdine to inquire into the proposal.

Website: Coastal policy statement review

Submissions: [email protected]

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Attribution: Government notice, story written by Bob Dey for The Bob Dey Property Report.