Rabbit Island beachfront road to go, sand push-ups approved

Thursday, 12 April 2018

The damaged beachfront road on Rabbit Island, near Nelson, will be removed while sand push-ups are planned to help deal with the fallout from ex-Tropical Cyclone Fehi.

Sections of the road were washed away when the storm hit the Nelson-Tasman region on February 1, causing significant erosion of the beach, which is 1200m long.

All 14 beach access ways were destroyed along with fencing. One fully accessible ramp, rebuilt before Christmas at a cost of $15,000, was damaged beyond repair by Fehi.

Seawater inundation from the storm also caused large areas of grass and hundreds of trees to die on Rough Island.

At its meeting on Thursday, the Tasman District Council community development committee agreed to the removal of the road and push-ups when excess sand was available. The committee also agreed to move the parking areas back from the shoreline, plant sand-binding grasses and change the remaining road layout from one-way to two-way around the Totara, Harakeke and Manuka picnic areas.

**READ MORE:

* Rabbit Island roads erode into the sea

* McKee, Rabbit Island among 23 council reserves damaged by Fehi**

Reserves officer Stephen Richards told councillors a temporary two-way roading system had been in place around the picnic areas since the storm hit 'and it seems to be going OK'.

'We're not anticipating we will need to widen the road.'

The estimated cost of all the work was $78,000, which included $30,000 for the sand push-ups and $5000 for the road removal, he said.

After the meeting, committee chairman Peter Canton said climate change and sea-level rise would continue to pose challenges for the dynamic coastal environment at Moturoa/Rabbit Island.

'We know climate change and sea-level rise is going to continue to affect our shoreline so we need to be responsive and adaptable to manage that,' he said.

'As well as the work that is needed now to restore the beach for continued community enjoyment, staff will report back on the environmental and cost impacts of future restoration work.'

While sand push-ups would not prevent future erosion, they were a 'low-cost' option to reduce shoreline retreat by repairing the beach and dunes to accelerate natural recovery.

'We can maintain public access to the beach and recreation areas on the islands, which we know are highly valued by the community, while taking a practical, cost-effective approach to managing ongoing erosion.'

The council estimated the shoreline at Rabbit Island had eroded by about eight metres since 2004 in the area of the main toilet block.