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Te take mō te pūrongo
Purpose
of the report
1. To
present a petition to the Kaipātiki Local Board regarding coastal
erosion at Hadfield Street Reserve.
Whakarāpopototanga matua
Executive
summary
2. Nick
Reynolds, Alison Stothers and Gary Flynn will present a petition to the Kaipātiki
Local Board. The prayer of the petition is as follows:
3. “Introduction
We wish to retain Hadfield St beach in a similar or
enhanced condition. We are grateful for the recent BECA report, but it proposes
only to measure the rapid deterioration now occurring due to a combination of
climate change bringing more intense weather, and ferry wake. This petition
is request further, and more positive action.
Background
It was nearly fifty years ago that local residents in
Hadfield St banded together with each family paying $80.00, to take the,
then, Birkenhead City Council, and the land developer, the to Court to
reinstate a proposed reserve containing the escarpment of bush surrounding
the beach. The reserve had been proposed by the residents, accepted by the
Council and then deleted as the developer did their planning. This has meant
we have an extremely attractive beach which is well used by swimmers,
kayakers, picnickers, play schools and dog walkers. The beach is the meeting
place of the community; it has been the place where casual conversations have
turned into long friendships.
In another fifty years when perhaps travel is harder,
you, Members of the Local Board will be seen as visionaries if you can
preserve beautiful grass/beach/bush recreation areas close to people’s
homes, that potentially link up and provide fantastic recreation
opportunities,. To this end we have support and mutual agreement with the concerned
public of Little Shoal Bay that the inner harbour coast recreation areas are
of increasing amenity value and merit some investment.
Community Concern
In six days, we have gathered 60 signatures mainly on
petitions positioned on the beach and its accessways.
Details of what we envisage are included on the
petition.
It is clear that
· Erosion
since 2017 is causing community concern,
· The
potential exposure of the sewer on the beach and in the accessway is not
acceptable, the mere fact it is not broken and leaking is not enough.
Watercare installations in the area need to be required to be more
sensitively installed.
· A
suitable small bridge of 2-3m, with hand rail across the top of the waterfall
at Hadfield Reserve beach would not be dangerous. Crossing the waterfall
without any structure is the current danger. An elderly gentleman fell just
this week trying to get to the beach at high tide, he was crossing over the
top of the waterfall because the existing steps were under water.
The Request
We request that the Local Board go one step further
than the recommendation in the report which is:
· Beach
replenishment, and
· The
grass level is raised so that this recreation area, that can have 65 people
using it on a busy day, is retained against rising water and ferry wash.
· Access
ways are preserved to provide safe access at high tide.
Thank you for your consideration.”
4. The
full petition is attached to this report at Attachment A, and contains 59
signatures.
5. The
Kaipātiki Local Board’s Orders (7.6) allow for the presentation of
a petition to the local board.
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