Save Ocean Beach

The natural and physical resources of Ocean beach and its adjacent City Dunedin are under threat and you can help!


"Storms at the weekend have further eroded parts of Ocean Beach, an area previously troubled by high seas and storm damage.

The rough weather has exposed more than 20 meters of the sand sausages, which were placed on the beach last year after storms caused substantial erosion.
The DCC says contractors are once again replacing sand which has been washed away.
The council says the large sea swell the coast has been experiencing will ease this week."

.. Easy come, the recent big East swells moved sand back in along Ocean Beach raising the beach profile, even allowing for a period of dry sand at high tide. Easy go, the weekends' southerly storms over the weekend stripped away a decent footage of the beach, exposing the rubble placed at the end of the sea wall and again lowering the beach profile, allowing the high tide to affect the base of the sea wall.

Above: Thursday at low tide, truck loads of sand await placement, with the newly repaired and extended steps in the foreground.

Above: wave refraction off the rip rap at the base of the wall closer to the Salt Water Pool, assisted in the agitation and suspension of sand, which was carried off to deeper water.


Above: Steep dune faces are showing new growth of vegetation, in the distance a digger awaits the return of the T-Rex truck to transport another load of sand to the freshly eroded dunes between the sea wall and and the poles.

At (I heard) $10,000 a day for sand replenishment, this is going to be a steep ongoing cost for us ratepayers for the next 4 years until the council decides on a long term 'solution'. A yearly 'holding pattern' budget of between $295,000 and $325,000 a year over this time went up for approval in January for the 2008-9 funding round.


Above: Sand replenished over the exposed rocks immediately adjacent to the end of the sea wall after storms over the weekend.

Above: Monday this week, after the weekend storm ate into the replenished sand placed to protect the damaged sand sausages.


Above: a few weeks back on the 5th Feb, after a couple of solid east swells had naturally replenished and raised the beach profile at St Clair.

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