Coromandel coastal erosion and roading update

A combination of king tides and the extreme weather event over the weekend has resulted in significant erosion at Flaxmill Bay (pictured below) and Cooks Beach.

A section of our Council reserve beside the road at Flaxmill Bay has been compromised and fenced off to ensure the safety of the public and traffic.

"Emergency works to protect and stabilise the embankment at this location will start this week," says our Area Manager North, Allan Tiplady.

The weather event at the weekend also saw the memorial cairn at Cooks Beach falling off the reserve and onto the beach due to more erosion occurring (pictured below).

"The cairn is being recovered today by our contractor for temporary storage at a safe location," says Mr Tiplady.

The erosion at Cooks Beach has been managed through the adaptation of a soft engineering approach, for example, beach push-up, dune restoration and planting. However, in the past few months extreme weather events, in combination with king tides, has severely tested these coastal protection works.

"We're working on a detailed assessment of the erosion, particularly in regards to any risk to the road which is about 6-8m away from the erosion at this section of Cooks Beach," says Mr Tiplady. "Our coastal engineer and coastal scientists will be visiting the site to discuss more appropriate and durable options to protect our infrastructure, reserves and heritage."

Appropriate hard coastal protection structures in combination with soft engineering options will be considered as management options for Cooks Beach and the nearby Purangi Reserve.

"As soon as practically possible, within 2-3 weeks, a concept option/design will be completed and reported back to the local Community Board," says Mr Tiplady.

The erosion occurring at this site at Cooks Beach is not putting any private properties at risk.

Low water pressure: Due to the weather Puriri and Hikutaia residents may be experiencing low water pressure. Our contractors are working on resolving this as soon as possible.

Roading update

State Highways:

• The SH25A Kopu-Hikuai Rd is now open with stop/go traffic management in place.

• SH 25 (Thames Coast Road) at Tapu, between Thames and Coromandel, is open under stop/go traffic management near Whalebone Stream and Tapu Wharf Road.

• However, SH25 (Thames Coast Road) remains closed in Ruamahunga, north of Otuturu Cresent. This is expected to be resolved by 3.00pm today.

Local roads:

• Neavesville Rd, Matatoki is closed, due to a slip. Crews are working to clear the debris but there is no timeframe on when this will re-open.

• A slip has also closed Puriri Rd in Te Kouma, which is likely to be closed all day.

• A substantial slip with dangerous overhang at Golden Bay, could be closed up to two days.

• The ford on Waikawau Valley Road, Tapu is blocked. The ford is approximately 1km up the road. A large tree is blocking the ford along with silt and debris.

Campgrounds:

• Due to the amount of roadworks needed on the road from Colville up to the Cape, both Port Jackson Campground and Fletcher Bay Campground are closed until further notice.

Please drive with caution and expect delays across the Coromandel.

Stay up to date on the weather and road conditions:

Weather updates: MetService.

State Highways (SH25, SH25A, SH26 in the Coromandel): NZTA NZTA. You can also call NZTA on 0800 4 HIGHWAYS (0800 44 44 49) for traffic and travel information. You can also use their journey-planning website www.onthemove.govt.nz to plan the best route for your journey, taking into account known issues and traffic on state highways.

Council roads: We will post regular updates on our Council's Facebook page as well as on our website and email newsletters. If you see an issue that needs attention, call us on 07 868 0200.

Local radio - Check stations and frequencies here.

Red Cross Hazards App - alerts about hazards. Download from the App Store or Google Play.

Emergency Mobile Alert - these can be sent to your mobile phone, without needing to download an app or sign up. Check if your phone is capable of receiving them, here

Waikato Regional Council has set up an online hub for rainfall and flood-related information to help people more easily keep up to date with severe weather events in the region. It can be found here.

Also follow Waikato Civil Defence on Facebook here and check out their website for updates here.

Know your neighbours - phone each other in an emergency, especially vulnerable people, to check if they're OK.

To report a power outage, contact Powerco or your provider.

For more on these channels, and other information about staying informed in emergencies, go to the Civil Defence "Never Happens" website.

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