Scientist to work with community on resilience for Whanganui beaches

Kai Iwi Beach will be one focus of the coastal action plan. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui District Council is developing a draft coastal action plan to make Castlecliff and Kai Iwi beaches more resilient in the face of climate change.

The key challenges include erosion, significant natural sand movement and ecological degradation of the beaches.

Council policy analyst Rebecca Dobbin, who recently graduated from Victoria University with a Bachelor of Science majoring in ecology and biodiversity and a Masters of Climate Change Science and Policy, will support coastal scientist Jim Dahm to work with the community to develop the plan.

They will begin by talking with key stakeholders from March.

"These conversations will help us build the draft coastal action plan which will go out to the wider Whanganui community for feedback from April," Dobbin said.

Dahm, who has more than 30 years' experience in managing coastal erosion, said he enjoyed the kind of work going on in Whanganui because it helped empower the community to make good decisions for their beaches.

"Both Castlecliff and Kai Iwi are well-loved beaches and there's a lot of local enthusiasm and energy around looking after them," he said.

"A large part of my role is simply to distil specialist technical knowledge so people understand the natural processes going on at the coast, the options for addressing climate change at these locations and the pros and cons of each option.

"That has to be integrated with the local knowledge and expertise of the community to ensure the values that are important to people are protected. Specialist knowledge is critical but it is only part of the picture."

Dahm wants to hear what people love about their beaches, how they use them now, what's important to them and what they'd like to see enhanced.

"When community consultation opens in April, I'd encourage people to get involved and tell us their thoughts – this is about deciding how your favourite beaches are managed."

Councillor Alan Taylor, who chairs the council's infrastructure, climate change and emergency management committee, said the coastal action plan was a real step towards protecting Whanganui's unique coastal environment.

"Climate change – through rising sea-level, rapidly warming temperatures and more intense storms – and also human activity are responsible for the global loss of 200 living species every day and our dynamic, beautiful and fragile coast is not immune from these irreversible losses," Taylor said.

"Eventually, because humans are an integral part of the total ecosystem, our survivability depends in no small way on the protection of such zones."

Taylor said the plan was a "must" for Whanganui.

The final coastal action plan is expected to be adopted by the council by July 2022 and implementation activities will start soon after.