Today there was an article in The Dominion Post about the erosion at Waikawa Beach: Waikawa Beach residents cut off from beach since February as councils pass buck. It turns out the article contained several correct statements.
- Some residents and visitors do sometimes enjoy a bit of fishing.
- Someone did cut an unauthorised track across private land in an attempt to create a new vehicle access point.
- The people who want to get their vehicles on the beach have been extremely frustrated.
- Erosion has been a problem for at least several years now.
- We do want a permanent solution to the dual problems of vehicle access to the beach and erosion.
- Our one public meeting about the beach access issue had around 100 people attend.
- The new vehicle access has been eroded again. On Saturday 14 July 2018 at least one vehicle had to be towed up to the road after getting stuck in the river while trying to get back up the track.
- Horowhenua District Council and Horizons Regional Council do keep batting the erosion problem around between themselves, each claiming it’s the responsibility of the other.
The Dominion Post article linked above is also available here as a PDF: Waikawa Beach residents cut off from beach since February as councils pass buck (800 KB PDF).