Beach stripped by those who refuse to shell out

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Eastern Beach resident Grace Kirk is small, quietly spoken and normally shy of strangers. But when she sees them shovelling the shellbanks of the Pakuranga beach into their trailers and bins, she speaks up.

"I ask them to put it back,"she said yesterday. "Most don't take any notice."

People regularly helped themselves to the ribbons of shell on the popular beach, and, judging by their vehicles, they could afford to buy shell for their garden paths from a landscape supplies or garden centre, Mrs Kirk said.

"They drive down and fill their boots, buckets, plastic bags.

"They seem to think it's their right to take it and some say they are only taking a little bit. But every bit adds up and the beach is disappearing."

The beach, which looks out to Waiheke and other Hauraki Gulf islands is the best in Manukau, says Shirley Warren, of the Bucklands and Eastern Beach Ratepayers' & Residents Association.

It was upsetting that the beach was losing sand when the association had pushed for the Manukau City Council to vote $700,000 over the next two years to replenish sand levels.

The council is considering a start this winter on trucking in enough sand from a Firth of Thames supplier to cover the main part of the beach.

Ngaitai kaumatua Murphy Thompson said people had a cheek in taking sand from a beach while others were trying to cover its rocks and make it safe for children to play on. He called for authorities to show sand-takers they meant business by issuing fines.

Mrs Warren said residents at first passed on vehicle registration numbers of sand-takers to the Manukau City Council in the hope the council would prosecute.

But they later learned that a loophole in city bylaws meant beach shell and sand were not protected.

The residents have now complained to the Auckland Regional Council, which is responsible for the beach below the high-water mark, and there were signs at the weekend that something might be done about the beach-stripping.

ARC parks chairman Bill Burrill said the council's Regional Coastal Plan had rules prohibiting the taking of sand, even small amounts, from beaches.

"Sand is a limited resource and it's not fair on everyone else who uses the beach to take away a community resource for personal use," he said.

ARC coastal resources manager Hugh Leersnyder said first-time offenders would be let off with a lecture about the importance of sand as a buffer against erosion.

But if they came back for more, they risked the council taking environmental enforcement action, which carried fines of $500 to $1000.

Eastern Beach shell banks were processed at a lime quarry operated by John Granger from 1870 to 1920.

Mrs Kirk said she and residents had tried to stop the beach's live cockle beds being stripped by droves of people.

Harvesting was banned about five years ago - too late to save the beds.