Beaches in city cleared again of wood debris after storm that hit Gisborne in June

Contractors cleaning woody debris off the city beaches have made good progress, with large sections of the beach between The Cut and past Midway now clear again. Photo / Murray Robertson

Contractor Forest Road Maintenance has made considerable progress on the removal of woody debris that again covered city beaches in the wake of the storm in late June.

The wood build-up along the beach front was described by some people as among the worst they had seen, particularly in the area from The Cut to past Midway.

Woody debris littered the city beaches in the wake of the June 26 storm. Photo / Paul Rickard

The clean-up crew has concentrated on the section between The Cut and past Grey St towards Roberts Rd, and a 100m-plus either side of the Midway Surf Lifesaving Club.

Those areas have been cleared of debris, and piles of wood have been stacked up in other sections ready for removal.

Diggers and trucks were on the beach at low tide again yesterday.

The material is being trucked off the beaches and to a site outside the city for high-oxygen burning.

The council indicated when the project started that the work would take about three weeks and the beaches would be “groomed” again from mid-September in preparation for summer.

Sections of the main beach being cleared remain taped off and warning signs remain in place advising people to keep well away.

The council has been working on a plan to remove debris from other beaches around the region that suffered the same sort of wood inundation.