NRC seeks action on Mangonui boardwalk

A long-running war of words about a boardwalk is heating up again, with the Northland Regional Council threatening to take the Far North District Council to court over a safety barrier.
The Mangonui boardwalk, which stretches about 200m from the Four Square to the war memorial, was controversial even before it opened in December 2008. The latest chapter in the saga involves a railing - or lack thereof.
Those who want a barrier, such as Mangonui's Kenana Marae, say children are at risk of falling into the harbour. Opponents say a fence would obscure the view and makes no sense on what is in effect a jetty.
A railing was part of the resource consent issued by the Northland Regional Council (NRC). A temporary fence was erected in 2009, then removed a few months later.
The NRC has sent the Far North District Council (FNDC) a letter spelling out its options for complying with the consent and warning that failure to act could lead to a prosecution.
"We've pointed out that doing nothing is not an option," NRC operations director Tony Phipps said.
The simplest option would be to put up a railing, though the FNDC would still have to discuss its final form with those involved in the original hearing and Environment Court appeal. Another option would be to apply for a change to the consent conditions. That would involve going back to the other parties and persuading them that a barrier wasn't needed, then holding another NRC hearing.
The NRC's least favoured option would be to go to the Environment Court, which could issue the FNDC with an enforcement order. "We've given them plenty of time. The options have been sitting with them for two years. They've had a lot of latitude, but they haven't responded," Mr Phipps said.
"They issue consents themselves and they expect people to comply with the consents they issue.
"We know from the submissions that there were those who were for [a barrier] and against it. All we're saying to the council is, if you have a good argument, apply for a change."
As the building authority, the FNDC had issued itself an exception under the Building Act so it wouldn't need a railing. While that took care of the building consent, as a coastal structure it also needed a resource consent from the NRC.
FNDC chief executive David Edmunds said his council's lawyers had been talking to the NRC's lawyers, so it was incorrect to say the issue had been ignored.
It is understood the NRC gave the FNDC three weeks to respond, which has already expired.
Controversy has dogged the town's foreshore redevelopment since 2008 when the boardwalk that started to take shape was different to the plans residents had been consulted on. Rather than timber, it was built of concrete with a steel fence.
Mayor Wayne Brown, a Mangonui resident, intervened by ordering an 11th-hour redesign replacing the "concrete monstrosity" with a timber boardwalk with bollards but no fence. The changes caused a budget blowout of some $1.2 million.
At the time Mr Brown criticised New Zealand's "cult of over-safety". He drew comparisons with a newly built jetty/boardwalk in Warkworth with a bigger drop but which did not require a barrier.
At a charged FNDC meeting in August 2009, Doubtless Bay Citizens' and Ratepayers' Association head Per Lugnet said the council would have to contend with a "peasant uprising" if it tried putting up a fence.