Ahipara is taking its beach back

Local school children went to work at Ahipara on Friday, planting 600 spinifex on bare dunes adjacent to the Kaka Street access to 90 Mile Beach, adding to the 1000 that were planted a little further east a few days earlier.

They were contributing to a community-driven effort to stabilise a significant area of dunes, but that's just the start as far as Ahipara Community Coast Care is concerned.

"Ahipara is taking its beach back," spokesman Doug Kleverly said.

Stabilising the dunes was part of that, but also on the agenda were making the beach from Kaka St west safe for all who wished to use it, and restoring what Doug described as a magnificent natural environment for the birds that continue to co-exist there, uncomfortably at times, with people and their vehicles.

"The beach here is getting hammered by cars, bikes and quads, and everyone knows that," he said.

"We don't have a problem with vehicles as such, but there is an issue when it comes to respecting the beach and making it safe for others."

The plan was to ask for a 30km/h speed limit (which was actually imposed by Mangonui County Council in the 1980s but has never been enforced - editor) and to encourage drivers to stay as close to the high tide mark as possible.

It had been established by an ornithologist that that area was home to no fewer than 28 species of bird, whose future the coast care group was keen to protect by having a stretch of beach from east of Kaka St to west of the Wairoa River recognised as a conservation zone. Again, such a declaration had been made many years ago, Doug said, but Far North District Council had never done anything about it.

The bird population, he added, included two pairs of New Zealand dotterels, who were preparing to nest. Once they had done so the nests would be identified and a major effort would be made to teach local children about the endangered bird and how its survival could be assisted, along with raising awareness of the local flora and fauna in general.

Meanwhile preparations for the planting of the spinifex had included the erection of 600m of post and wire fence and signs, funded by a Northland Regional Council grant, with volunteers from Ahipara and further afield (including the Karikari Peninsula) providing the labour.

The initial planting took place at the area known as The Bowl, long used by some as a rubbish dump until children at Ahipara School shamed them into stopping, their campaign prompting a huge effort to remove the rubbish and so begin restoring the area to something like its natural state.

Friday's planting took place under the expert eye of regional council staff, Doug saying Kaitaia's Community Business and Environment Centre (CBEC) had also done its bit by providing rubbish bags, rubbish and recycling bins.