Work to remove a damaged seawall ramp and stairs at the Esplanade at St Clair and construction of replacement beach access will not take place before the summer.

Dunedin city council transportation policy engineer Pieter Besuijen said staff had decided it would make more sense to dismantle the stairs and ramp at the same time as work on installing new access was done.

The stairs and ramp were closed permanently in September last year, after being repaired multiple times following damage from high seas.

The intention had been to remove the damaged stairs and ramp before summer, but it was decided it would be cheaper to do all the work together, as part of one contract, Mr Besuijen said.

The council did not want to do the work over the summer when the area was busy, as it would require the use of a crane and other heavy machinery.

The design and exact location of the new access was not yet decided, as the council was waiting on information from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. However, it was expected the work would begin after summer and would be done before July next year.

The council reached a confidential agreement with engineering firm CPG in August, after the firm, which merged with the firm that designed the stairs and ramp, did not initially accept liability for their continued failing.

The council has budgeted $130,000 for the work this financial year.

However, part of the agreement was that details of it remained confidential, infrastructure services committee chairman Cr Andrew Noone said.

The council signed off the settlement at its last meeting, in August.

The council and and CPG are now discussing options and designs for new access to the beach.

The city council believed the stairs and ramps from the Esplanade at St Clair to the beach failed several times - most recently last September - because of a combination of construction and design faults.

Design consultant Duffill Watts and King and construction company Naylor Love agreed to strengthen and repair the ramp and stairs at no cost to the council, and facilities were replaced in 2007.

Duffill Watts and King had since merged with CPG and CPG had not accepted liability for subsequent failings.

Council transportation operations manager Graeme Hamilton said a settlement had been reached between the parties in August, and while "the ink was still drying", he described it as a "better than 90% agreement".

The council had allocated $130,000 in its 2012-13 budget for replacing the beach access at the Esplanade.

Mr Hamilton said things were now moving in a "favourable and progressive" direction, and a meeting to develop design options was held yesterday.

There were several ideas on the table about the best beach access and location, which were what the parties were starting to work through.

It was unclear how long it would be before there would be any decision about the access or when the work would be completed.

-debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz

In the meantime, staff would do the costed design work on what are considered to be the two most viable medium- to long-term ways to manage erosion in the area - a buried backstop wall 10m inland and/or a 30m managed retreat of the dunes.

Work on developing a long-term plan for the coastal area between St Clair and Lawyers Head began after severe storms caused significant erosion in the area in 2007.

The council has continued to battle erosion on the stretch, using sand replenishment and other minor work.

A report from consultants Tonkin and Taylor, commissioned in 2010, suggested the long-term "adaptive management approach" now being recommended to council following public consultation.

The council received 26 submissions on the report, offering mixed views on how to proceed.

Some submitters clearly favoured a managed retreat at Middle Beach, but the hearings committee considering submissions concluded a buried wall and a retreat were both viable options and data collection over the next five years would confirm which option was then considered most appropriate.

Councillors will consider a report containing recommendations from the hearings committee and council parks manager Lisa Wheeler at Monday's community development meeting.

The report recommends the council continue sand replenishment and other minor work alongside careful monitoring of the area for up to 10 years, at an expected to cost of $4 million to $8 million.

A buried backstop wall 10m back from the 2007 dune toe position should be designed and costed in the meantime, for intended installation between the end of the St Clair seawall and the cultural centre in 10 to 50 years' time, but earlier if required.

A continuation of the buried wall along Middle Beach to the St Kilda Surf Club should also be designed and costed, as should a managed retreat based on a 30m setback from the 2007 dune toe.

Ms Wheeler said sports fields at Kettle Park would not be substantially affected by a buried wall, other than during its construction, but a managed retreat would have a significant effect on the fields, which would become part of the dune area.

The fields were fine in the meantime, and clubs would be consulted if monitoring showed that had changed, she said.

Initial estimates put the cost of an inland wall at $8 million to $13 million, or $11 million to $19 million for a managed retreat, including the cost of cleaning up a historic landfill under Kettle Park, the report said.

Dunedin city councillors will decide next week whether to back a plan to continue a holding pattern in the battle against erosion in the Ocean Beach Domain area for the next decade.In the meantime, staff would do the costed design work on what are considered to be the two most viable medium- to long-term ways to manage erosion in the area - a buried backstop wall 10m inland and/or a 30m managed retreat of the dunes.

Work on developing a long-term plan for the coastal area between St Clair and Lawyers Head began after severe storms caused significant erosion in the area in 2007.

The council has continued to battle erosion on the stretch, using sand replenishment and other minor work.

A report from consultants Tonkin and Taylor, commissioned in 2010, suggested the long-term "adaptive management approach" now being recommended to council following public consultation.

The council received 26 submissions on the report, offering mixed views on how to proceed.

Some submitters clearly favoured a managed retreat at Middle Beach, but the hearings committee considering submissions concluded a buried wall and a retreat were both viable options and data collection over the next five years would confirm which option was then considered most appropriate.

Councillors will consider a report containing recommendations from the hearings committee and council parks manager Lisa Wheeler at Monday's community development meeting.

The report recommends the council continue sand replenishment and other minor work alongside careful monitoring of the area for up to 10 years, at an expected to cost of $4 million to $8 million.

A buried backstop wall 10m back from the 2007 dune toe position should be designed and costed in the meantime, for intended installation between the end of the St Clair seawall and the cultural centre in 10 to 50 years' time, but earlier if required.

A continuation of the buried wall along Middle Beach to the St Kilda Surf Club should also be designed and costed, as should a managed retreat based on a 30m setback from the 2007 dune toe.

Ms Wheeler said sports fields at Kettle Park would not be substantially affected by a buried wall, other than during its construction, but a managed retreat would have a significant effect on the fields, which would become part of the dune area.

The fields were fine in the meantime, and clubs would be consulted if monitoring showed that had changed, she said.

Initial estimates put the cost of an inland wall at $8 million to $13 million, or $11 million to $19 million for a managed retreat, including the cost of cleaning up a historic landfill under Kettle Park, the report said.

A public hearing next month will help decide what to do about erosion problems threatening Dunedin's Middle Beach.

The Dunedin City Council has been investigating the problems, and what to do about them, since severe storms in 2007 first highlighted the threat of erosion to Kettle Park and other facilities in the area.

That resulted in a draft Ocean Beach management plan prepared by consultant Tonkin and Taylor last year, covering a 4km area stretching from St Clair to Lawyers Head.

The draft plan recommended continuing the council's holding pattern of monitoring and sand-replenishment work - put in place after the 2007 storms - in the meantime.

However, the report also canvassed 13 longer-term options and recommended a managed retreat from Middle Beach and Kettle Park, or construction of an inland buried backstop wall to protect the area over the next 10 to 50 years, at an initial estimated cost of between $8 million and $19 million.

Yesterday, council community and recreation services manager Mick Reece said public consultation on the draft plan had prompted 17 submissions, including input from the Department of Conservation and individuals.

About half supported the draft plan's recommendations, while the rest had mixed views, he said.

A public hearing, set down for February 21 to 23, would be held to help determine a way forward, Mr Reece said.

chris.morris@odt.co.nz

Dunedin City Council staff yesterday confirmed a clay cap stretching about 150m along the top of dunes at Middle Beach had been removed by contractors, amid fears it was being undermined by waves.

Parts of the cap had already fallen away, leaving plant roots exposed and the remaining cap at risk of collapsing on to the beach below, council parks manager Lisa Wheeler said.

Instead, the cap - up to 1m deep in places - and vegetation in the area was removed by council contractors last month, leaving a flat shelf, she said.

The clay was then replaced with about 7000cu m of sand dredged from Otago Harbour, to restore some of the top of the dunes, Mrs Wheeler said.

"When we took the clay capping off, it was just a flat shelf. We've actually brought the sand back on to try and build the dune back up again.

"It was quite significant [work]," she said.

Otago Regional Council consents required the city council to collect any clay falling on to beach, to prevent it being washed into the marine environment, she said.

The work was undertaken as a "precautionary" measure to avoid that, at a cost of $70,000, but also to ensure public safety for beach-goers, she said.

Public access to the dunes was already restricted, with the area above fenced off since it was discovered the dunes were contaminated by material from a historic landfill located under nearby Kettle Park.

However, plants left leaning over after parts of the cap collapsed were adding to the pressure on the shelf, Mrs Wheeler said.

"Some of it had [collapsed], and there were big cracks where even the pressure of just someone standing on it was moving some other areas of it.

"You just need another little bit of imbalance and it all would have just gone."

Council community and recreation services manager Mick Reece said the clay had been placed on top of the dunes "years ago" - although the exact date was not known - to help promote plant growth.

Adding the clay was "not a good move, as we now know", and would have had to be removed regardless of what decisions were made about the long-term future of Middle Beach.

"As the face of the dune was tested in any way by the weather, you have this great big pie crust on the top that if it was undercut at all, the whole thing collapsed, like slabs of clay down on to the beach.

"Whatever happens in the future ... that clay had to go anyway."

chris.morris@odt.co.nz