Hokio residents are divided over how to spend $45,000 the district council has put up for environmental improvements following its controversial 'Hokio cut' in 2014.
In emergency works at Hokio Beach, Horizons Regional Council cut a channel for the Hokio Stream to run directly to the sea on behalf of Horowhenua District Council which then applied for retrospective resource consent for the works but was rejected.
Rather than appealing the rejection, it was more productive to mitigate the loss of wetland caused by the cut, said HDC environmental engineer Ryan Hughes.
The $45,000 is to be spent on an environmental restoration project agreed on by the Hokio community.
Residents and interested parties are meeting in a series of independently facilitated workshops to get that agreement.
The second workshop was held last week.
At the time of the cut, some residents were appalled by its effect on the wetland and bird habitat.
Others were pleased the stream flowed more directly, protecting significant sand dunes and easing the impact on residential septic systems.
Speaking after the workshop, Hokio resident Christine Moriarty said the money should be spent fixing what went wrong after the cut.
"That money wouldn't be there if [HDC] hadn't wiped out a wetland," she said.
She said more than $45,000 would be needed to fix the wetland.
A Hokio kaumatua and cut supporter, Peter Huria said the money should go toward protecting the sand dunes.
He said the so-called wetland was actually a flood zone and was heavily polluted, and the stream was undermining sand dunes, which then blocked it.
Mr Huria said only the owners of the affected land should have a say over what happened to it.
Hokio Beach Road resident Charles Rudd Snr's view was that the affected wetland is customary Maori land with no title.
A hearing is before the Maori Land Court over its ownership, he said.
Mr Rudd said the money offered a good opportunity but had caused greed.
"Too many people are looking at the money. Don't focus on the money, look at a vision for how we can protect the wetlands," he said.
Robert Warrington, a trustee of the Lake Horowhenua Trust that holds land at Hokio, said there was a need to stabilise the sand dunes.
"Needs first, wants second. They want a wetland but the need should come first," he said.
Part-time Hokio resident Bernadette Casey said the $45,000 had "kind of been grabbed out of the air" with no plan.
"The whole thing has been done back to front. This amount has been proposed but it is not based on what the cost of remediation would be. ... Surely you figure out a plan first ... and then figure out how much it is going to cost," she said.
"It's a really complex situation. It's not just the stream, there is the issue of the lake feeding into the stream, and the pollution, and the dump feeding into it. Holistically they all relate and they all need to be addressed.
"People have different views over what is important but collectively we all want the same - the best outcome for the environment, the people who live here and the landowners," Ms Casey said.
Last week's workshop had agreed that a long term plan was important but it would take several further meetings to agree a way forward, she said.
Horizons manages the region's waterways.
Nic Peet, Horizons group manager for strategy and regulation, said given HDC's commitment to working with its community and paying $45,000 towards mitigation and remediation, enforcement action in relation to the on-going effects of the cut was not reasonable.