Posted on August 17, 2021
An uncovered submarine cable, a recently exposed old septic tank and a surf life-saving club teetering on the edge of an eroding coastline is the new normal for Waikato beach goers.
Coastal erosion and rising sea levels along Ngārunui Beach in Raglan is nothing new. Residents recall seeing sand dunes moving in and out with changing weather patterns for years.
In 1974, the shoreline was right along the base of the cliff. Today, it’s somewhere entirely different.
Nearby residents Mike Goodison and Lindsey Baker have never seen it this bad.
The Raglan Surf Life Saving Club is now sitting on the verge of the sand dune, with a supporting beam centimetres away from losing the sand below it. The club had to relocate its beach access point after it became impossible for volunteers to access the beach safely.
An Aqualink submarine cable – a fibre optic submarine telecommunications cable that runs from Canterbury to Auckland – has been exposed for months, but unable to be reburied due to wild weather.
And now, an old long drop holding tank, that was emptied and closed about 15 years ago, has edged its way out of the cliff face.
Goodison never knew the tank was there until sand started slipping away, revealing it more and more every day.
He has lived in Raglan for 35 years and walks the beach almost every day with his dogs.
“We’re used to it changing, but not like this. This is the most exposed I have ever seen it,” he told Stuff.
Goodison remembers the beach access was at least 15 metres closer to the water than it is today.
“They need to relocate the club,” he said.
“There will be hundreds of people here over summer, it will make the whole problem worse if people keep walking over the dunes.”
New Zealand surf life-saving clubs have been fighting an uphill battle to protect their facilities for years. Some have already been forced to retreat.
At Sunset Beach, in Port Waikato, 50 metres of beach had been lost in the past decade. The rescue towers were moved three times and its at-risk public hall had to be demolished.
The club had to hire a temporary port-a-com building for the summer because it no longer had any rescue towers on the beach.
According to the Waikato Regional Council, impacts on infrastructure from natural shoreline movement is not uncommon along the west coast and the common response is to retreat.
In the early 2000s, Raglan’s old life surf lifesaving building moved from the harbour entrance to Wainui Reserve due to coastal erosion.
Lindsey Baker, a surfer and resident for over 20 years, noticed the erosion on Friday, but says in the last two weeks, three or four metres of the bank has disappeared.
The surf lifesaving lookout has been there for 10 years, but with the surf life-saving season two months away the club may need to change the way they operate.
David Galuszka, director of Raglan Surf Life Saving Club, said the club might need to set up patrol operations at the clubhouse on the top of the hill.
“But we will need to make sure there is enough staff on the beach and at the club to monitor properly,” Galuszka said.
“It keeps us on our toes and could change the way life-saving is done in Raglan.
“It’s going to be a challenge for all those involved and how we can preserve it for the future.”
Galuszka has been with the club for nine years and has never seen it this far up the beach
The Waikato Regional Council is working in collaboration with the Waikato District Council and Vodafone on the issues.
Regional resilience team leader Rick Liefting, from Waikato Regional Council, said shoreline movement/fluctuation is natural and part of beach processes.
“We know that the high tide has reached the cliffs along Ngārunui Beach in the past,” Liefting said.
“It’s the result of very complex processes and varies along the beach. However, cycles of shoreline movement landward and seaward are normal.”
The council’s hazards portal shows past shoreline locations, he said. The shoreline has been landward of the current location – that was in the mid to late 1970s – and it then built out again to seaward of the current location.
The district council is also in conversations with local iwi, the community and the life-saving club on a future solution, but were unable to meet the deadline for comment.
Vodafone was approached for comment.
