Westshore "seawall is the only solution"

Napier City Council says its Westshore plan is based on expert advice, but one Westshore resident believes a seawall is inevitable.
Westshore resident Larry Dallimore said he has "won the fight but lost the war" in his attempts to see the best solution put in place for erosion along the coast.
Engineering consultancy firm Beca answered 20 questions about the erosion, sent by Napier city councillor Tony Jeffery, and Mr Dallimore said many of the answers confirmed his opinion.
Beca's answers confirmed that the Whakarire Avenue seawall built in 1994 was concentrating wave energy onto the beach and worsening the erosion.
The report also said that creating a sandy beach would require extensive engineering, that there was the potential for erosion to continue at Westshore, which at present is countered to a large extent by the nourishment programme and that strengthening the existing seawall was still an option.
Mr Dallimore, a former contractor, said a seawall was inevitable because the erosion along Westshore was permanent, not cyclical.

Many people did not understand what a seawall would look like, but it was the only way he could see of saving what was left of the beachhead.
"A seawall is inevitable but unfortunately too late because the beach head will be lost and gone forever," he said. "Who wants a seawall at the edge of the road?"
Napier City Council works asset manager Bill McWatt said the council would not be promoting the H-shaped breakwater if it did not believe it was the best solution for the circumstances.
"Westshore is probably the most studied piece of coastline in New Zealand and it will continue to be the most studied piece of coastline," he said.
Council staff had used extensive reports from eminent scientists, including American oceanographer Paul Komar, to advise their decisions.
Those studies showed that renourishment was enough for the majority of Westshore but did not solve the problems for the Whakarire Ave properties and hard engineering was the only remaining option, Mr McWatt said.
"The renourishment we have done to date is the appropriate solution for Westshore in the present circumstances," he said.
"If those circumstances change we will have to review our solutions, but it will take time to see those changes."
Erosion worked on a long time pattern that was hard to understand within any one lifetime, Mr McWatt said. It was a complex issue but the research and reports had the best information available.
Mr Jeffery said the council's decision did not cancel out the option of a seawall in the future and he was satisfied that the council had looked at the issue thoroughly and was making the best decision.
The breakwater would get the last of the Westshore homes out of the hazard zone and the council hoped to improve the recreational value of the area as well, he said.
Mr Dallimore had presented a convincing and educated report on the matter, Mr Jeffery said. It had prompted him to question Beca further and he was satisfied with their answers.
"I'm not an expert but I have read every report and no one is recommending a seawall at this stage," he said.
"To me a seawall is a last recourse and we're not there yet."