NRC CoastCare co-ordinator Laura Shaft, Camp Waipu Cove manager Anton Trist and councillor Rick Stolwerk at the restored dune area north of the surf club.
NRC CoastCare co-ordinator Laura Shaft, Camp Waipu Cove manager Anton Trist and councillor Rick Stolwerk at the restored dune area north of the surf club.
One of the people who helped Waipu Cove Reserve Board win a national award for a sand dune restoration project said the job had involved as much community goodwill as hard work.
Anton Trist, manager of Camp Waipu Cove which is run by the reserve board, has overseen the community-runproject.
The Waipu Cove Reserve Board was recently named winner of Best Coastal Dune Restoration Project by the Coastal Restoration Trust of New Zealand at the trust's annual conference in Christchurch.
Over several years, rebuilding and planting the dunes to again protect the shore had involved countless hours of work by volunteers, with support by Northland Regional Council (NRC) staff, Mr Trist said.
Waipu Primary School children had also helped plant out the dunes in front of the campground.
Thousands of native sand-binding plants such as spinifex and pingao have been provided by the NRC or donated by groups to replant and restore a 600m to 700m stretch of dunes.
Signs, fencing and accessways have also been installed.
"Now it's basically gardening. You check on them, you weed them, you keep people off them. The public are very respectful, they take notice of the signs and use the accesses," Mr Trist said
"We've been fortunate in that in the last couple of years we haven't had a big storm come in and destroy the dunes. It'll be interesting when it does happen to see how they stand up."
The latest stage in the restoration project saw a 100m section of steep bank reshaped to match the natural dune profile and old fill material removed.
NRC local representative Rick Stolwerk, who is also president of Waipu Cove Surf Lifesaving Club, said the restoration work had been well received by Waipu Cove beach users.
The award was recognition for the countless hours of work by many people, including Mr Trist, who managed the project, Mr Stolwerk said.
Work is to continue over winter with more reshaping and planting planned in the area further north of the camp.