Snails’ pace for Cobden seawall stop-gap
From local democracy reporter Brendon McMahon:
A stop-gap suggestion by the West Coast Regional Council five months ago to donate stockpiled rock to plug the Domett Esplanade seawall at Cobden is moving at a snail's pace.
With the storm season looming, plugging low points in the seawall, built in 1969, has lagged since a storm last June 13 sent seawater through several homes.
Residents had to flee and some are still fixing the damage.
"It's been a difficult hard year for us," one of the affected residents, Vern Goodall, said.
After the storm damage, fingers were pointed about how the seawall had been compromised, including criticism of the salvage operation of the fishing boat Kutare, which sank off Cobden beach in 2017.
Goodall noted 10 to 15 low spots or flattened areas currently on the wall.
"Some of it is caused by four-wheel drives going on to the beach."
Regional councillor Peter Ewen suggested rock be made available from the closed Cobden quarry to plug gaps until a permanent solution.
But he said it needed to be addressed urgently in light of the risk.
"The ball's in (Grey District Council's) court if they want to pick up the rock."
This followed a field visit by both councils in September immediately after a joint meeting between them stalled before it even got started.
By then the district council was emphatic the regional council should fix the problem, and address future protection options in the area.
Regional council acting chairman Peter Haddock now says they are prepared to find a solution together with the district council.
While it would be "embarrassing" if another storm event hit meantime, the solution was not clear-cut.
Haddock, who retired from the district council to stand for the regional council, pointed to informal assurances to fix a problem in Cobden in 2018 had been based on "a wink and a nod".
He cited the assurance to the district council that the Government would help fund protection of the old Cobden dump, buried just above the foreshore, after tonnes of rubbish was washed out to sea during Cyclone Fehi.
"The problem is, we've got to be so careful undertaking work on a promise or a wink and a nod, as the Grey District Council found when mayor Tony (Kokshoorn) got a bit of verbal approval on the (rubbish dump) wall at Cobden, that the Government would fund it -- then it didn't," Haddock said.
As a result, the district council had to empty almost its entire $2.2 million infrastructure contingency fund to subsidise the new rockwall in front of the old rubbish dump.
After 15 months of negotiation the Government only chipped in $235,934.
Haddock said that meant he was now wary of funding "promises".
"All these projects need co-funding or funding from rating districts. What we've got to firstly identify is whose problem it really is - and both councils believe it's the other council's problem - and it's not as if the regional council has a big pot of money."
Current Greymouth mayor Tania Gibson said her council's position was clear: "We are still pretty much of the view that it is their delegation".
"We don't rate for it... That's why we pushed the issue in the first place and asked for the meeting."
It rankled that the stalled 'urgent' meeting of the Greymouth Floodwall Committee from last September had still not been reconvened, she said.
"It was (the regional council's) turn to host the meeting and it was adjourned - and we've been asking since the last meeting: it needs to be reconvened and discussed," Gibson said.
The joint meeting stalled when the Grey District Council members arrived without having received the relevant papers.
Regional council chief executive Heather Mabin said reconvening that meeting was on the "to do list" as well as clarifying an arrangement for the rock.
"We want to make it formal and official... we really need to have an agreement about what rock and who does what."
*Public interest journalism funded through NZ On Air
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A reminder this hunting season
As thousands of hunters are making their plans for autumn – the Roar – recreational firearms groups are urging hunters to always be 100% sure of their targets.
Te Tari Pureke - Firearms Safety Authority NZ, which chairs the Recreational Firearms Users Group, has begun a public information campaign reminding hunters everywhere of Rule #4 of the Firearms Safety Code: to identify their target beyond all doubt.
Director Communities and Corporate, Mike McIlraith, says there is an estimated 50,000-60,000 New Zealanders involved in big game animal hunting each year, and the Roar is the key event for many hunters each year.
“The Roar is a fantastic time of year for hunters to get out into the hills after a trophy animal but hunting safely and making sure everyone gets home in one piece, still must be the most important goal of every trip,” says Mike McIlraith.
“The consequences of not fully identifying your target beyond all doubt can be catastrophic. Our message to hunters is a really simple one: If you are not sure, then don’t shoot.”
Mike McIlraith says while hunting fatalities are thankfully rare, research has shown that misidentification of the target is the largest firearms related risk to New Zealand deer hunters, and 80% of the time this involves members of the same hunting group.
The Authority says hunters should not feel pressured to take a shot: “Instead, hunters should take the time to analyse their target, wait and see if it is a hind or stag, how old is the animal, how many points does its antlers have? Identifying your target means never firing at sound, shape, colour or movement alone.”
Mike McIlraith says good hunters will slow down, and run through some simple mental checks:
- Can I see the whole animal, or could this be another hunter?
- Where are my hunting companions – could this be them or someone else?
- How much of the animal can you see, if it is a hind or stag, how old is the animal, how - many points does its antlers have?
“Taking a little extra time to identify your target and check the firing zone is the key to safer hunting. No meat or no trophy is better than no mate,” he says.
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