Warwick Mortimer with his dog Winston, in front of the sea wall he had built at his Point Wells home. Photo / Warwick Mortimer
Warwick Mortimer with his dog Winston, in front of the sea wall he had built at his Point Wells home. Photo / Warwick Mortimer
“We ratepayers want to protect our properties and land and should not be put through this, particularly when we tried to right a wrong.”
So says Point Wells resident and businessman Warwick Mortimer, who along with neighbour and barrister Paul Dale, KC, own illegal seawalls on the Matakanacoast which they have been asked to remove.
Mortimer and Dale say their walls and two neighbouring ones were built to stop flooding and erosion and all four owners challenged Auckland Council abatement notices in the Environment Court.
The council has issued them with notices to remove the walls, saying their construction and existence meant the loss of salt marsh vegetation and mangroves which buffer the shoreline and provide a habitat for native fauna and prevent any future naturalisation or restoration of the coastal edge.
No one can build any structure that is fixed in, on, under or above any foreshore or seabed and disturbing that including by excavating, drilling or tunnelling has an adverse effect on the foreshore or seabed, the council told the owners.
Others in the area said the walls had a detrimental effect on the environment and there were good reasons why the council wanted them removed.
The sheer length of them along the coastline had a big impact on what was essentially a sheltered area of the harbour, much calmer than more open areas, critics said.
Warwick Mortimer's house is protected by this unconsented sea wall which Auckland Council wants removed. Photo / Warwick Mortimer
People should realise the cumulative impact of that long stretch of walls in front of all the properties, a nearby resident said.
But Mortimer and Dale remain resolute that the walls perform an important function and stop the sea from undermining their places and water flooding in.
The Dales' estate with the seawall on the esplanade reserve in front at Point Wells near Matakana. Photo / resource consent application to Auckland Council
“The waves were particularly bad. I’m glad we have a seawall. It’s very important to save the King’s Chain. If it’s not saved with sea walls, it will end up in the harbour and lost for future generations,” he said.
Further south at Gisborne, concerns have been raised about the potential environmental impact of ex-mayor Meng Foon’s unconsented Gisborne seawall.
Barnaby atop the seawall at Point Wells in front of Warwick Mortimer's place. Photo / Warkwick Mortimer
On October 6, Gisborne District Council issued an abatement notice to Foon for work he had undertaken next to Tatapouri Bay Oceanside Accommodation, which he owns with his wife Ying.
Foon began constructing the seawall in front of the campground on August 25 and continued for several weeks after initially being asked to stop on August 31.
He cited erosion from Cyclone Gabrielle as a key driver for the project and said the work was important to protect two large at-risk trees.
It followed a request to the council for post-cyclone funding which was never responded to, he said, although the organisation has denied this. Foon also claimed the wall was within 10 metres of his surveyed boundary.
Former Gisborne mayor Meng Foon has an unconsented seawall constructed in front of the campground he owns with his wife. Photo / Liam Clayton
At Point Wells, legal action has been under way by the property owners to try to keep their walls and have them declared legal.
Last February, the Environment Court granted stays of abatement notices to four parties including the Dales and Mortimer.
Chief Environment Court Justice David Kirkpatrick noted the council did not oppose those stay applications.
Dale said he and his wife Marlene had bought their land around 2003 and built a house there in 2015.
Before the wall was built, the front or coastal part of their land was inundated by the sea in high tides and big weather events, Dale said.
Barrister Paul Dale, KC, says the seawalls perform a crucial function at Point Wells. Photo / NZME
“It’s tragic. If you looked at the neighbour’s property to the south and the mess, land being undermined and plants being washed away, it’s awful. There are very large trees being put at risk because of erosion under the roots.”
Dale said his property was worth considerably more than the rating valuation, so there was a lot at stake.
“The wall works. It’s effective. If we had to take it down, we’d build a wall on our boundary. That would mean the reserve land would be at risk of being washed away, so the public would be the loser in the end,” Dale said.
The Dales have applied for retrospective consent for their seawall. That application has been notified, meaning anyone can submit on it. Submissions are due by November 14.
In Mortimer’s case, a council official wrote to him in 2014, noting the seawall in front of his house.
“I can fully understand the reason you have constructed a seawall against erosion but the structure needs to be formalised by way of a resource consent,” the consenting and compliance official wrote to him.
Mortimer hopes his seawall remains, particularly if more ex-cyclones like Lola hit and batter the coastal edge.
Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, has won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
