Beach houses looking shaky

Property owners at Whangapoua on the Coromandel Peninsula want urgent action to save their threatened holiday homes from erosion.

Powerful storms in July swept about 7m of sand off the eastern end of the beach and left four houses within 7m of the edge of a steep, scoured-out sand bank.

Coastal scientist Jim Dahm said unless action was taken the dune face would gradually collapse and more land would be lost.