Baylys Beach sandbags continuing to deteriorate while solution remains to be found

Visitors to Baylys Beach are met with exposed sandbags at the entrance, image from November 2022. Photo / Supplied

Northland is well known for its pristine beaches and abundance of locals who take pride in their natural surroundings.

Issues of environmental importance are known to be subjects of much controversy and some degrading sandbags on a rural Northland beach have been the source of such since their installation.

In 2015, Kaipara District Council (KDC) were supplied with sandbags from the Baylys Beach Society to prevent erosion and keep the accessway clear for beach-goers. The bags were installed at a cost of just under $50,000, according to a previous Northern Advocate article.

Within weeks of their installation they began breaking up, one resident recalled.

Since then the bags have not been replaced and continued to degrade under the power of UV rays. Their remnants are littered across the beach and open bags sit on the sand banks.

Some locals are concerned the sandbags may play a role in damaging marine life and wildlife commonly found at Baylys Beach. Others labelled the sandbags an “eyesore” for visitors to the beach.

An image taken in 2019 of the sandbags that litter the cliff at Baylys Beach. Photo / John Stone

Former Kaipara Mayor and local resident Graeme Ramsey told the Advocate the sandbags had “fulfilled their purpose, they’ve done the job that they were meant to do” but he wants to see a solution found.

“The purpose was to control the stream in order to maintain the road access to the beach, that’s quite a critical issue, and stop the stream undercutting the bank,” he said.

“The unfortunate thing is that the bags themselves were not strong enough.”

Ramsey said the priority should be to find a “long-term alternative”.

“Now that we are increasingly an attraction or destination and a boardwalk has been built on one side we’ve kind of got half an attractive entrance.”

He said whether the issue is a priority for the Kaipara District Council “remains to be seen”.

“We judge by actions rather than words.”

Ramsey’s main concern is that the sandbags “do their job”.

When asked if the sandbags will hold out until a solution is found, he joked: “That depends on how long it takes to find a solution.”

Ramsey said KDC is “starting to come to terms” with the fact that work needs to be done at Baylys Beach, including toilet and carpark upgrades.

He said Baylys Beach has been a location of “tremendous growth”, the second fastest growing community in the Kaipara.

A recent image of the sandbags, taken in November of last year. Photo / Supplied

One Bayly’s Beach local believes the sandbags were a “stupid idea”, complaining the tatters look “ugly”.

“Who needs to see that every time they go to the beach? What I would like to know is where are the remnants going as they break up? My guess is out into the water. So, how does this affect the marine life? I have seen no good in them right from the start.

“For myself, those bags are not the solution. They are merely a stopgap measure.”

Another local said the deterioration of the bags is the “price of coastal living”.

“The bags have performed quite well under the circumstances stopping the dunes from eroding away and bringing some baches down.”

A local surfer told the Advocate he has found multiple remnants of bags floating along the beach over the years.

Back in October, the Kaipara District Council infrastructure and roading team said the issue was a “priority” for them.

“This is a work in progress. In agreement with Baylys Beach Society and Chases Gorge Camp we have been working on a geotech report to understand the stability of the dune they are intended to support, what effects the bags have on this stability and what future solutions we can look to implement to improve the situation.”

KDC said the site’s maintenance is to be managed by themselves ‘by default’ since they own the resource consent.

“In taking responsibility for the maintenance KDC uses its road maintenance contractor to clear up any loose deteriorating bags as a temporary measure while we work on the best long-term outcome.

“This maintenance is done once a week and is also done immediately before and after a storm event. Additionally, we maintain the stream bed for beach access and in doing so grade sand up and over the toe of the bags to keep it as tidy as we can in the interim.”

The Advocate has contacted KDC for updated comment which they say will be supplied next week.