The Star: August 13, 2020

Still no decision on future of ‘needless eyesore’
• By Stu Oldham
OFFICIALS ARE looking at
ways to improve a now rockstrewn
beach some neighbouring
residents say is blighted by a
needless eyesore.
The city council this week confirmed
it was investigating options
for improving the amenity
value of Clifton Beach but that
no decision has been made.
City staff are preparing a
proposal for Environment
Canterbury after officials from
both councils met to discuss the
future of the beach last week.
The proposal will include an
assessment of environmental
impacts, costs and time frames,
in response to that meeting, a
spokesperson confirmed.
The move is the latest since the
Redcliffs Residents’ Association
in August urged the council
to clean up what it said was
left after work on the rock
revetment protecting Main Rd
and supporting the section of the
Coastal Pathway.
The association says rock previously
buried up to 4m underground
was insufficiently buried
when the excavated material was
returned to the beach.
Tide and weather have since
exposed rocks along a stretch of
beach that has been sandy for
as long as many residents can
remember, it says.
Association secretary Dr Pat
McIntosh said the wait for a
plan to remediate the beach was
“frustrating.”
“They do not appear to have a
plan, and I’m afraid we may have
another summer like this.”
The association was also frustrated
by the council’s responses.
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EXPOSED: Redcliffs Residents’ Association Secretary Pat McIntosh says the wait to
remediate Clifton Beach was ‘frustrating.’
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Initially, council staff said
the rocks are naturally occurring
and would eventually be
consumed by the sandy beach,
she said.
In November, the council acknowledged
it was an unforeseen
result of the work but could not
be tackled during penguin nesting
season, she said.
The prospect of further work
seemed to slow when the council
said it needed archeological and
cultural assessments before it
could start, she said.
The association understood
remediation, whether that meant
scraping or sifting out the rocks
Thursday August 13 2020 The Star 19
NEWS 19
to a reasonable depth, might
prove costly, she said.
“But it was their mistake and
is their responsibility to put
right.”
It was the association’s position
the council had some work to do
before it met the conditions of
its consents, and the beach was
restored, she said.
The Star sought an interview
with the council. In a written
response, a spokesperson said it
had no non-compliance reports
from any of the agencies that
issued its resource consents for
the project.
Asked what advice it had as to
the potential impact of rocks on
the beach, the spokesperson said
the “naturally occurring rocks”
were an unforeseen consequence
of construction.
The spokesperson later confirmed
that meant the council
had no advice at the time of the
works, or after.
Asked about the estimated cost
of removing the previously subsurface
rocks, by option considered
since the issue was identified,
the spokesperson said “no decision
has been made yet as to what the
preferred option may be.”
That was also the response
when asked whether the
remediation time frame has been
affected by the need for cultural
and archeological assessments.
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