Erosion of sea cliffs south of the Mowhanau settlement has disturbed one man - but nearby residents are unworried.
Potonga Neilson rang the Wanganui Chronicle last week, having driven from Castlecliff to the Mowhanau settlement at low tide. In the last kilometre before the settlement, he saw places where up to 6 metres of cliff face had fallen on the beach.
"I've been looking at the beach for 70 years and I've never seen anything like it," he said.
South of the Mowhanau settlement is Peat Ave, a no-exit road with about 12 houses, some of them 50m from the cliff edge.
"If I was up there I'd be moving the house, because they're going to go eventually," Mr Neilson said.
Residents spoken to by the Chronicle were unworried by the coastal erosion.
One of them, Garth Dean, has lived in Peat Ave for 23 years and was tired of hearing about cliff erosion. He said he no longer went to meetings about it.
John Carson, who lives in another part of the same settlement, said Wanganui District Council had assessed the risk to houses at Peat Ave.
The cliffs were thought to be eroding at 1m a year and the council would not give permits for new houses unless they were 100m from the cliff edge and could therefore be expected to last for 100 years.
Council principal planner Jonathan Barrett said there would always be variations in the erosion rate. The hazard areas at Mowhanau were in the process of being reviewed. Minor changes to their extent are proposed, along with bigger changes to the rules applying.
Hearings on that plan change were held on November 4 and decisions will be notified early next year.
Mr Carson has been watching erosion there and said the Mowhanau Stream was cutting into the Peat Ave cliff from the north side.
He thought it could eventually cut through, leaving the end of the headland as an island at high tide.
"If I had a house up there I would be concerned but I wouldn't be panicking," he said.
He did not see any evidence of unusual erosion there this week but said material that fell on the beach could wash away quickly.
Heading north toward Waiinu on Tuesday, he saw a lot of erosion all along the coast, with especially big chunks fallen near the Okehu Stream. The strong westerlies of the past few weeks had scoured sand away, allowing waves to beat right up against the soft rock of the cliffs. "Thousands of cubic metres of sand get shifted, especially when you get the spring tides combined with a rough sea," he said.