The Waitaki District Council this week received 15 written submissions on its Draft Coastal Roads Strategy (2013), which estimated the cost of repairing and protecting the full 9.5km length of the road to be more than $2.6 million.
The draft strategy put forward for consultation by the council proposed to keep the route open ''if viable'', but suggested that a section of Beach Rd between Gardiners Rd and Thousand Acre Rd should remain abandoned, because it had already been closed by erosion.
It added that the 600m section of Waianakarua Rd, from Bowalley Rd to the end of the coastal route could be compromised by sea erosion ''at any time'' and protection work should be put in place. It should only be maintained until it was more cost-effective to provide alternative access by relocating the road or upgrading Maclean and Bowalley Rds.
It would be ''difficult and potentially unaffordable'' to keep the whole road open indefinitely, the draft strategy said.
However, only three submitters said the costs of keeping the road open in full was too expensive, because the council could not hope win a ''futile'' battle against nature.
Margaret Thorn, from Oamaru, said it was a ''no-win'' situation for the council, and agreed with the draft strategy that just sections of the route should be kept open.
''The sea will triumph in the end,'' she said.
''As the icecaps continue to melt, the sea is predicted to keep rising, therefore more roads will be in peril.''
Other submitters said efforts should still be made to protect the whole of the route.
Elizabeth Cornish, from Oamaru, said it would be ''a travesty'' to let sections of the road ''fall away into the sea''.
Peter and Judith Aymes, from Oamaru, said the draft strategy as it stood was ''unclear and confusing'' and appeared to ''endorse erosion by neglect''.
Their submission called for a more proactive approach.
''There is no reason to abandon a two-lane tarsealed road when a reasonable investment in repair and maintenance can conserve it.''
Jan Anaru, from Kakanui, urged the council to keep the coastal road open in its entirety. She was one of many submitters to call the coastal route a ''road of national significance''.
John and Margaret Chetwin, from Kakanui, also submitted that the draft strategy should consider the full length of the road, rather than sections of it. The road was a ''latent gem'', but so far no attempt had been made to market the route as one of Waitaki's major tourist attractions, they said.
Possible solutions put forward in submissions included the construction of a causeway, the use of a concrete and bluestone wall, and using piles or groynes.
Submitters also rubbished the suggested option of opening an alternative route by upgrading Bowalley Rd.
The council will hear verbal submissions on the draft strategy on May 21 and 22.
