A cheap and easy fix?

It was stormwater damage, not the Tasman Sea, that closed the Kaka St access to 90 Mile Beach again earlier in August. Photo / Dave Collard

The Far North District Council ceased maintaining the Waipapakauri Ramp access to 90 Mile Beach some time ago, having tired of seeing tens of thousands of dollars' worth of work washed out by the Tasman Sea almost as soon as it had been done, and in more recent times has struggled to maintain vehicular access to the beach at Ahipara's Kaka St.

Cr Dave Collard said last week that he was preparing a proposal for the council that would at least resolve the Kaka St issue, and could possibly be of some benefit at Waipapakauri.

"I'm told it costs the council $5000 every time it sends someone up, and that's without actually doing much," he said.

"Obviously we need some sort of supervision, but instead of spending a fortune, often after access has been lost for days or weeks at a time, I reckon we should pay someone local a small retainer to keep an eye on it, and a slightly larger retainer to someone who has the equipment to fix whatever needs fixing. We have people living right there who could do both.

"They might have to do some work three times a year, or 23 times a year, but it would be well worth a go as a year's trial.

"If we can keep Kaka St open for a few thousand dollars a year everyone should be happy. The council will save money and the people who want to go on to the the beach there, and the emergency services vehicles that sometimes need to, will be able to do so."

Cr Collard said he had been keeping a close eye on Kaka St for some time, and it was clear that the damage that had closed the access for 10 days earlier this month, after three days when it was open but dangerous, had been done not by the Tasman Sea but by stormwater, an issue that was clearly the council's responsibility to remedy.