Basalt assault

A Karaka Bay resident says the council's plan to stop erosion - using dark rocks instead of river stones - will wreck the look of the beach, reports Kieran Nash.
Helen Momota is not a fan of erosion. But the Karaka Bay resident is concerned that Auckland City Council's works to thwart erosion on her favourite section of coastline have swept aside local concerns.
The council will install gabion baskets this month on parts of the idyllic Glendowie Beach to protect the grass frontage from being washed away with the tide. Gabion baskets are a rock-filled wire mesh planted over with grass.
Ms Momota says Auckland City Council is imposing them on Karaka Bay residents. "It's absolutely hideous. They're planning to barge ahead - literally."
She is concerned with what she calls the "whole lack of openness, transparency and democratic accountability".
The council says residents were informed of the works on April 1. Ms Momota says this isn't the case and she received a letter a week later, giving her only three working days to register her opposition to the works before the submission date closed. She supports erosion protection works but disagrees with the plans, which she says will use dark basalt rather than river stones.
"This beach is formed from white cockle shells. When they did the original gabion baskets, they used river stones. They didn't tell us they were going to use basalt.
"I don't know how anyone could have given their support. It's going to wreck the visual appeal of the beach ... I'd like an approach that's more conducive to the look of the place."
The only people who were asked were the residents, she says. "There are all kinds of affected parties. This is a very popular public beach."
Ms Mamota requested all the written reports on the matter from the council under the Official Information Act and says the council offered her a choice: withdraw the request and in return it would tell her what she wanted to know. She's concerned there will be even less consultation with the public on matters such as these once the new Auckland Council comes into effect on November 1.
"If this is already happening it doesn't auger well for the future," says Ms Momota.
Council transport safety manager Andrew Allen says erosion could threaten a sewage pump station near the foreshore.
"Failure of the pump station has the potential to cause raw sewage to discharge to the bay, and loss of sewer infrastructure to Karaka Bay properties," he says.
Residents have regularly raised concerns about the rate of erosion and retreat of the bank edge along the southern end of the bay, and faxes sent by eight Karaka Bay property owners supported the proposed works.
"The existing contours will be followed as much as possible to minimise the appearance of intervention and maintain the amenity values of the bay," says Mr Allen, adding that the majority of residents support the works.
Karaka Bay
Karaka Bay in Glendowie is an idyllic strip of sand with historical significance. In 1840, New Zealand's first governor, William Hobson, met local Maori chiefs at Karaka Bay to add their signatures to the Treaty of Waitangi.