A temporary sign at the end of Manga Pirau Street clearly explains, in plain Maori and English, what is required to maintain a healthy relationship with the land owners.
A temporary sign at the end of Manga Pirau Street clearly explains, in plain Maori and English, what is required to maintain a healthy relationship with the land owners.
Waikawa Beach residents are lobbying for a new route allowing vehicle access to the foreshore.
For years vehicles could get to the beach through private land at the end of Manga Pirau Street thanks to the goodwill of the owners of the land.
However, when the route was altered by wind and tide in September, an unknown party soured that goodwill by taking the liberty of creating their own access through the land, without consent, using heavy machinery.
That led to Horowhenua District Council blocking vehicle access at the end of Manga Pirau St with four concrete bollards. Before the concrete blocks were put in, some temporary plastic bollards preventing access had been removed.
The river mouth at Waikawa Beach near an entrance on private land at the end of Manga Pirau Street.
Waikawa Beach Ratepayers Association chairperson John Hewetson said the people that had tried to create their own access through private land following the September tides had been "their own worst enemy".
"It eroded that goodwill," he said.
Hewetson said toetoe and other beach bushes that helped stabilise some areas were disturbed or destroyed.
HDC Parks and Property Lead Ann Clark said in a statement that any unauthorised tracks had a negative impact on the stability of the foreshore.
Vehicles were blocked following "deep concern that damage has been caused to the land and dunes by the creation of new tracks that have not been sanctioned by Council or indeed the owners themselves".
"The tracks that have been forced through the dunes will have a negative longer term impact on the stability of the foreshore. It is entirely inappropriate for members of the community to take matters into their own hands and plough tracks through what is private land," she said in the statement.
Horowhenua District Council moved four concrete bollards allowing access to Waikawa Beach through private land with consent and goodwill from the landowner.
After working through the issues with the landowners access has been granted again. The concrete bollards were moved at the weekend by HDC contractors and placed across the subsidiary track that was cut without the owners permission.
The landowners have asked only that the community respect that access is granted on the basis that vehicle and beach users stick to the defined track.
Clark warned that HDC would "consider legal options with input from the landowner concerned against those transgressing the private property rights of the owners" should further breaches occur.
Alternate access could provide a long-term solution, she said.
"Given the regular movement of the stream southward, and the inability of some individuals to respect current arrangements, it might be appropriate to consider access to the beach from Council land rather than private," she said.
The petition, signed by 165 residents and sent to both HDC and regional council Horizons, wanted access to the foreshore through council-owned land on Reay MacKay Grove.
The river mouth near Waikawa Beach can change course with tide and wind. Photo: Rachel Low.
Waikawa Beach resident Darren Galway said in the petition there needed to be vehicle access to the beach for emergency situations, and any lack of access also impacted residents quality of life.
"It prevents them from taking part in their usual recreational activities such as fishing, whitebaiting, surfing, canoeing, launching boats and other normal beach activities that require gear to be transported to the edge of the sea," he said.
The situation of having beach users cross private land was untenable. A proposed new access route at Reay McKay Grove would not suffer the threat of erosion, reducing the need for ongoing maintenance, he said.
The petition led to the matter being discussed at an HDC meeting this week, where council agreed to fully investigate all options for future foreshore access to Waikawa Beach.
Council staff would be asked to provide a full report. The likely timeline for the issue to be properly looked at was the Annual Plan process that would consider funding applications and submissions for the year July 2022-June 2023.
HDC Parks and Property Manager Arthur Nelson said any new beach access route would need to go through an Annual Plan process and require input from the community, including adjacent property owners.
It would require consent from Horizons Regional Council and a budget to plan and undertake the works. No budget was currently in place for the work, estimated to be $300,000.
Cr Sam Jennings said now that access through Manga Pirau Street had resumed, the issue should not be seen as urgent given major issues requiring priority this term.
