Makeover time for two beaches

Popular Auckland beaches at St Heliers Bay and Howick are heading for facelifts.

St Heliers, which at present has little sand visible at high tide, will receive 35,000 cubic metres of sand, hopefully by next winter.

In Howick, the Manukau City Council wants feedback on proposals to renew or upgrade sea walls at Howick Beach.

One brick wall is described as failing and could collapse, endangering beach users and damaging the road access above the seawall.

The St Heliers sand proposal follows similar work at neighbouring Kohimarama Beach last year and earlier Mission Bay, part of a programme to improve more Auckland City beaches in coming years.

Auckland City says the reason three eastern suburb beaches in a row are being done is the need to protect the Tamaki Drive seawall.

"The Kohi Beach project received huge support from locals," said Neill Forgie, Auckland City's manager of traffic and roading services.

"It has not only addressed issues of safety and erosion but has also improved the look, quality and user-friendliness of the area."

As with Mission Bay and Kohimarama, the techniques planned at St Heliers include extending stormwater outfalls out to sea.

St Heliers has at least three stormwater outfalls at the city end of the beach and two substantial ones at the eastern end near the cliffs.

In the case of the last two, the plan is to build a small natural-looking but artificial headland out from around the present eastern-end toilet block and playground. That will separate the outfall flows from the rest of the beach.

The headland proposal received most support at recent city council open days, in comparison with a small island, or a pier.

The pier would have been a 90m-100m pedestrian pier not able to be used by boats or ferries.

The next step in the $4.3 million St Heliers project comes next month, when Auckland City will seek a resource consent for the beach work from the Auckland Regional Council.

Lorenzo Canal, of Urban Solutions, the engineering consultancy managing the St Heliers (and the Kohimarama) projects, said the sand would be the same sort as that used at Kohimarama, dredged from over 35m of water in the northern Hauraki Gulf off Pakiri.

At Howick Beach, the challenge is to retain some historic sea walls but try to get a better blend of materials than the present mix of red brick, concrete, dressed basalt squares and areas of polygonal, rough hewn and random stonework.

The historically valued but failing brick wall east of the pumping station could either be rebuilt - with the bricks acting as a veneer on a much stronger structure against the bank behind it - or replaced with stone.

St Heliers Bay

* Current state: Very little sand, blamed on long erosion by stormwater. Vulnerable seawall.

* Solution: A sand buffer to protect the wall. Artificial headland.

* Project cost: $4.3 million.

Howick Beach

* Current state: Seawall patched over years with variety of materials. Some parts now failing.

* Suggestions: Re-engineer seawall in parts. Retain historically valued brick parts, maybe as a veneer. Improve beach access.

Other Auckland City Council beaches due to be resanded:


* Pt Chevalier


* Blockhouse Bay


* three Herne Bay beaches including Taylors Reserve


* Pt England Reserve on the Tamaki River