We spend a great deal of time and money looking at how we can preserve our coastline. The aim is to always look towards long-term solutions for protecting our beaches, preserving beach amenity and working with landowners with properties affected by coastal erosion.
Our Mercury Bay area office is developing a coastal management action plan working with Waikato Regional Council. In August 2012 they established a working group, to include affected property owners, Ngati Hei, well-known New Zealand artist Michael Smither, who has an interest in the issue and local elected members.
This group will work with the Community Board and staff on finalising the broader plan which refines all of the many previous reports (see timeline) into a concise summary of specific actions for each section of the coast from the waterways entrance to Stormont Lane, Brophy's Beach.
The plan will develop short, medium and long-term management options for each of the specific areas of coastline needing to be managed. The plan will also have the proposed timing of the works and the estimated cost of each part to inform the Community Board Plan and Ten Year Plan budgeting decisions. Basically it will provide a co-ordinated approach to the maintenance and development of improvements along the beach and will be available to the public. It will also allow us to take a co-ordinated approach to consenting works along the beach.
There will be on-going consultation and communication plan to engage with community, elected representatives and key stakeholders. We will be updating existing key reports in light of latest scientific data on the coastal dynamics of Buffalo Beach, social and economic factors, climate change projections and tsunami modelling.
Policy analysis will be undertaken which will consider existing and proposed strategies like the Coromandel Peninsula Blueprint Project, WRC harbour and catchment management planning and the proposed spatial marine plan for the Hauraki Gulf.