In a February 3 letter, the Oamaru Residents and Ratepayers Group (RRG) has asked Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden for an investigation of the district council’s Project Reclaim.
The project, designed to avert a coastal environmental disaster, resulted in Beach Rd being closed last August for a cleanup of historic rubbish from two old dumps near the junction of Awamoa Central Rd.
Last August the council suggested "the aim" was to reopen the road by December.
In November, the council erected gates and said reinstating the road again was not immediately feasible.
It then deferred a final decision when elected members voted to consult the public through the proposed 2025-34 Long Term Plan.
The formal submissions period for that closes early next month.
In the letter, RRG claims "no confidence" in the council and suggests "a full and transparent investigation".
RRG also suggests the Beach Rd issue has "seriously eroded" the confidence of Waitaki residents.
"Project Reclaim has been a disaster for the district," RRG chairman Ray Henderson wrote.
"It has left two gigantic holes in Beach Rd, severing a long-established coast road that has substantial economic, aesthetic and historic importance for the district."
It had also left "a huge hole" in the council’s finances — a reported $18 million that council had been "forced to borrow".
"Ratepayers have been told it will cost another $12m to reopen Beach Rd," Mr Henderson said.
Project Reclaim was conceived in 2022 to deal with two areas vulnerable to coastal erosion: the former Hampden Beach dump, and at Beach Rd.
After the Beach Rd cleanup was under way the council learned the dump sites went further beneath the road than first projected.
It has since acknowledged it knew Beach Rd had previously been realigned at the cleanup area.
Waitaki District Mayor Gary Kircher this week defended his council’s approach to Beach Rd — an area known to be vulnerable to erosion.
"The reality was we hoped there would be minimal damage to the road and that the work wouldn’t require all of the funding so there would be a clear path to reinstating all of the road — and hopefully improve it given the undercutting," he said.
"That really underlines the problem we’ve got generally: the more money we’ve got to spend putting it back, the more risk that it is a lost investment."
Mr Kircher said the council was now seeking to find a feasible solution by engaging the community.
He said the council knew groups such as the RRG would inevitably question any investment by the council as a result.
"We know the emotional response is ‘put it back the way it was’.
"But we know equally the ratepayers’ group would be the first to be up in arms.
"For me, it’s trying to get the best result out of it — going into the engagement with an open mind and hoping at least to get one part of [the road] back."
Mr Kircher suggested the investigation the group called for "is not going to help".
He said the council in good faith approached the previous government for help before Project Reclaim started.
"We were ignored the first time after we made the case."
Then in 2024 it found out too late about new government funding — and a retrospective application not allowed.
He said the only way to quantify what they were dealing with at Beach Rd was to make a start.
"We had a problem we had to deal with, we ended up with an outcome we were hoping wasn’t going to happen."
The RRG, in a full-page advertisement in the Oamaru Mail this week, has also called the proposed long-term plan "indefensible, unbalanced, harmful".
Mr Kircher agreed the public mood at present was not so positive.
"The average household gives the government something like $37,000 a year. It gives council [about] $3000. They notice the $3000 a lot more."
