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Consultation over Esplanade 'possible' | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

A request for public consultation on the future of the Esplanade at St Clair is to be made to the Dunedin City Council, following a public meeting at the St Clair Surf Life Saving Club last night.

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull recently said a decision on how best to protect St Clair Beach and the sea wall would be based on expert engineering advice, not ''expert public opinion''.
However, there was some hope when council roading network engineer Peter Standring told last night's meeting it was ''possible'' for the DCC to consult people in the community with knowledge of the beach.
More than 60 residents, business owners, surfers and regular beach users attended the meeting called by Dunedin South Labour MP Clare Curran, to discuss the next steps towards fixing the problems at the Esplanade.
Large sinkholes appeared in the paved Esplanade walkway in May during a period of high tides and heavy seas, when fill was sucked out from behind the wall after waves got under the structure.
The numerous problems with the sea wall over the century since it was built have always generated a healthy level of public opinion on how to resolve them.
Last night was no different.
Among the issues brought up at the meeting was a concern there was no safe access to the beach, and many surfers said they were just jumping over barriers to get to the water.
There was also concern the St Clair club's ramp was out of action, meaning there would be long delays in any surf rescue operations in the area.
It appeared there were no councillors at the meeting. However, Mr Standring said the council was looking at the issue as a matter of urgency.
Many at the meeting agreed all the problems at the Esplanade were caused by the reshaping of the ''corner'' by the St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool.
Some who had lived in the area for more than 30 years said they believed it was causing the sea currents to create a ''gouging effect'', which sucked sand away from the beach.
They believed the cheapest and easiest way to fix the problems would be to remove the corner.
The meeting concluded the council should recognise the knowledge of local residents, and they wanted to be consulted by the council before any final decision was made on the future of the Esplanade.
While Mr Standring's belief it could be done brought some hope to the meeting, there was also scepticism. Local resident Vince Ryan said there had been similar community meetings in the past where similar advice had been given but the DCC had not taken it.
Ms Curran said the public knew there was a DCC process in place, but the missing element in the equation was the opinion of the community.
The meeting voted to have Ms Curran approach the DCC and request regular meetings with the community, and to ask if the community could formally consult on any developments.
It was hoped another community meeting could be held, this time with council staff providing information.
A reference group will also be formed to liaise with the council on the issues.

Calls for accountability over failure of sea wall | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

Calls for accountability were met with pleas for a trial before a hanging as Dunedin city councillors considered the failure of the St Clair sea wall yesterday.

The debate came as councillors approved plans to recruit an international consultant to help with sea wall repair plans, following repeated damage culminating in the emergence of sinkholes in May.
The review was expected to cost the council up to $150,000 and take three months, but was endorsed by councillors at yesterday's Dunedin City Council infrastructure services committee meeting.
That followed a report by council transportation operations manager Graeme Hamilton that identified issues to be considered, from the continued structural integrity of the wall to the benefits of an offshore groyne.
However, Cr Lee Vandervis saw red over the failure to mention the need for accountability in the report, and demanded it be a priority of the review.
Warnings at the time the wall's design was ''incompetent'' had been ignored, and the project had ended up costing ratepayers $6 million, Cr Vandervis said.
''Every single aspect of this project has been compromised and we should have had a much harder look at responsibility way before now,'' he said.
Mr Hamilton said accountability could ''certainly'' be considered, but whether the design or those who accepted it were to blame was difficult to say.
That prompted Mayor Dave Cull to urge caution, saying the review needed to establish the facts before blame could be apportioned.
''We should be having a trial before we have a hanging,'' he said.
The sea wall was designed by Duffill Watts and King, which later merged with Commes Consulting in Australia to become CPG, before morphing again to become Spiire late last year.
The council struck a deal with Spiire earlier this year to split the estimated $250,000 repair bill to fix earlier damage to stairs and a ramp.
The council had opted for the deal rather than expensive and risky court action, but neither party had accepted liability for the wall's faults.
Mr Hamilton indicated last month the council could seek further costs from Spiire if the design was found to have contributed to the sinkholes.
Committee chairman Cr Andrew Noone told yesterday's meeting the deal with Spiire related to the failure of the steps and ramp, but the council now had ''a bigger picture of failure'' to consider.
Most councillors yesterday favoured the review, although Cr John Bezett urged his colleagues to ''get on with it''.
He predicted finding a way to retain sand at St Clair Beach - and the cost of doing so - would be the ''nub'' of the issue.
The council needed the facts as quickly as possible, but it would be up to ratepayers to decide if the ''serious'' costs that came with it were acceptable, he said.

Public gets no say over St Clair | Otago Daily Times Online News : Otago, South Island, New Zealand & International News

A decision on how best to protect St Clair beach and the sea wall will be based on expert engineering advice and not ''expert public opinion'', Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says.

Council staff are expected to decide by the middle of next week which of three short-listed firms the council will hire to provide it with advice on the best engineering solution for the long-term protection of the beach and sea wall.
The danger of fluctuations in sand levels on the beach was highlighted last month when large sinkholes opened up in the Esplanade at St Clair.
The city has, as a result, to date spent $500,000 on stabilising the wall and Esplanade.
It is expected that work should be completed at the end of this week.
The holes appeared in the walkway when the level of the beach became so low during a period of high tides and heavy seas, that the bottom of the sea wall was exposed allowing waves to get underneath and suck out fill from behind it.
The numerous problems with the sea wall over the century since it was built have always generated a healthy level of public opinion on how to resolve them.
They have also resulted in many technical, engineering and scientific reports, studies and assessments of what the issues are with keeping the sea at bay.
Council roading maintenance engineer Peter Standring said all those reports would be provided to the chosen company.
It would assess them, conduct its own assessment, keeping in close contact with council engineering staff, and report back - probably within six weeks.
He expected staff would be in a position to report to the council by September the ''best engineering advice'' it had for a long-term solution.
Mr Cull said councillors would then have to decide what to do based on the expert advice.
There would be no public consultation on that decision, as such, although people would be kept informed of what was happening.
Mr Cull said it would be irresponsible of the council to base a decision like this on public opinion in a situation that required specific technical and engineering expertise.
He was not certain whether the council would be provided options, but expected any advice would be accompanied by expert reasoning.
He would not speculate on what would happen given options that were significantly costly to the ratepayer.
''Clearly, we have to weigh up what value we get from what we are going to spend.''