Posted on January 3, 2022
Auckland has 3200km of coastline, and as sea levels rise and cliffs erode, some 17,600 of the region’s homes lie in harm’s way. A Shore Thing is a Stuff series that talks to the people whose properties are threatened, the scientists attempting to warn us, and the engineers trying to hold back the ocean.
An hour north of Auckland, at Northland’s One Tree Point, a sand cliff is rapidly eroding into Whangārei Harbour, with large chunks of material falling onto the wet ground to leave cables and fences exposed.
The sedimentary layers – so soft you can carve your name into them – are geologically so young and exposed, the compacted sand has not yet turned to rock or sandstone.
Karoro Rd homeowner Jan Giles wants erosion prevention for the cliff in front of her house, where a harbour navigation beacon has had to be moved back several times due to the land being eaten away.
Whangārei District Council should instal boulders or a rock seawall to stop king tides undercutting the cliffs, she says.
“I think if they put rocks or a break just at the bottom of the cliff it would eliminate the whole problem, and it wouldn’t be eroding, and it [the cliff] would be staying there for everyone to have a look at.”
