Groynes near go-ahead

Resource consent for the construction of three large rock groynes to stop erosion on an Otago Harbour beach is expected to be lodged early next month.

They will form part of a joint multimillion-dollar project with Port Otago and the Dunedin City Council, to restore Te Rauone Beach and create a reserve area, about 2km from Taiaroa Head.

It is the first major progression in the project since its announcement in May last year.

Over the past six decades, the sea has eroded Te Rauone Beach, particularly to the north of the reserve, where areas that were above the high water mark are now under water at low tide, and the sand dunes are diminishing.

Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope said Port Otago was leading the way in terms of the construction of the groynes and restoration of the beach area.

Chief executive Kevin Winders told the community last week that Port Otago hoped to lodge a resource consent application for the work on December 9.

Mr Pope said there was no indication of when construction work would begin.

"It’s all subject to resource consent."

Construction of the reserve site, next to the beach, would be undertaken by the Dunedin City Council, he said.

Plans, created after community consultation, show plantings, barbecue facilities, playground extensions and walkways.

"They [the DCC] should be ready to make movement on that, sometime early in the next year.

"But again, both projects need to coincide with each other because the reserve will need to be used by heavy machinery to access the construction sites for the groynes."

A picnic will be held by the SOS Action committee at Te Rauone Beach next Sunday (from 2pm), to celebrate the progress.

Event co-ordinator Olly Ohlson said it was an exciting time.

"We thought, instead of doing the whinge, whinge, whinge because the council have been working on it for ages, that we do a positive event in anticipation of it happening.

"The fact that Port Otago has accepted that they have a part in this as well, to us, that’s a plus."

Families and friends have been invited to celebrate the progress by having a picnic/barbecue with singing, music, kapa haka, poetry and old fashioned games.

He said the project was not just about restoring Te Rauone reserve; it was also about restoring the beach and the land that once was there.

He said it equated to about 75m of land.

"So you can imagine what this means to the local and wider community — especially the people whose properties have been under threat from the sea."