Three more Port Waikato homes are uninhabitable after meters of beach were claimed by the sea in the latest storm.
The popular holiday destination on the North Island’s West Coast has long been affected by a natural phenomenon where sand movements build up and then erode the shore.
But scientists believed that climate change would exacerbate coastal erosion through rising sea levels and severe storms.
Malcolm Beattie, president of Sunset Beach surfing, said another three feet of sand was lost in the storm earlier this month.
Tom Lee / Stuff
Three more homes were deemed uninhabitable due to erosion on Sunset Beach. The council said none of them were permanently occupied.
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“It’s a hell of a lot of land gone that we’ll never get back,” he said.
Sloping sandbanks are now cliffs with rare edges, and three more homes on Ocean View Rd have been considered uninhabitable as a result.
Tons of rocks and rubble also washed up, changing the beach’s landscape.
Rob Koppers, senior construction inspector at the Waikato District Council, said he was working with the three property owners whose homes no longer needed to be occupied due to erosion.
None of those properties with a “high-risk profile” were permanently occupied, he said.
Tom Lee / Stuff
Sunset Beach lost three meters of sand in the latest storm, said the president of the local surfing lifesaving club, Malcolm Beattie.
“We are actively working with all affected property owners to find a suitable outcome and approach that best suits both the property owners and the erosion risks that currently exist, keeping in mind.”
In 2019, two houses on the beach and the community’s surfing club were demolished after they swayed too close to the sea.
Beattie has been involved with the Sunset Beach Surfing Lifesaving Club for 48 years and saw the beach lose about 40 feet in that time.
He said the trail of the sea came in and took off from the bottom of the sand dunes, then the top collapsed.
“It’s an ongoing thing, but the big tides last week really just ruined the beach.”
“It is difficult to see what we love about this place disappearing. The constant hammering of the tides, it is just beyond our control. ”
Beattie said a group of locals have set up an erosion committee and are working with authorities to try to slow down the erosion.
Tom Lee / Stuff
What was once a sloping bank of sand has become a cliff with rough edges.
“We are not going to see this community washed out, and there are a lot of locals who are interested in it.
“There is a plan, but no one wants to adopt it and pay the money, or do the work.”
He said the group wanted to take sand off the beach and pack it where the erosion was worst.
Permission was needed to carry out the work – which would cost thousands, Beattie said. Then the work itself had to be financed.
He said they are never going to solve the problem because nothing can stop mother nature.
“But if we can slow things down and be prepared for a big shift.”
Jo Poland lives on Ocean View Rd, just a few houses away from those recently marked as uninhabitable.
“It is almost inevitable that I will have to pay to demolish my house. The carpet was pulled out from under our feet. “
Tom Lee / Stuff
The sea slowly feeds on the sand dunes on Sunset Beach.
When she bought her home in Port Waikato in 1994, she was only warned against erosion by wind.
“We did not make the decision. It was not predicted by anyone. “
The house was the 70-year-old’s ticket to building a family vacation home and a relaxed retirement.
Now she will probably have to demolish her house – and at her own expense.
But it was something she could never afford.
People affected by climate change-induced erosion are not eligible for compensation or funding, she said.
“We are really frustrated.”
Kelly Hodel / Stuff
“It’s almost inevitable that I’ll have to pay to demolish my house,” said Jo Poland, who lives on Ocean View Rd, a few houses away from the houses marked uninhabitable.
Her plan was to move into a garage office on the property, where she co-managed the Rural Youth and Adult Literacy Trust.
“Those of us in the street are not so worried, but every house that goes increases the risk that all the houses go, and the harbor goes.”
She said some people are optimistic, but it will only take one big royal tide to claim many of their homes.
“We are very vulnerable. It is more a case of hope than optimism. I hope it stops. “
Tom Lee / Stuff
The Waikato Regional Council said it was not responsible for doing any physical work related to erosion.
A Waikato Regional Council spokesman said it was not responsible for doing any physical erosion work.
Instead, it freely provided expertise to help the community work toward an appropriate remedial solution through the Sunset Beach Erosion Response Plan.
“The team and some of our other coastal scientists worked with the Waikato District Council and the Port Waikato community on the Sunset Beach erosion response plan to address the erosion hazard.”