Taiao o Kāwhia Moana Incorporated Society secretary Jacqueline Margetts worries about the “toxic juices” that vehicles spill when they roll. Photo: Chris Gardner
Almost 500 people have signed a petition calling for alternate access to Kawhia’s Te Puia Springs.
Vehicles driving to and from the Ocean Beach springs from the boat ramp near Maketu Marae are being cut off by the tide as often as three times a week.
There have been incident of vehicles rolling on the shellfish bed at Mouth of Te Arai O Te Wiwini, also known as the lagoon.
Te Taiao o Kāwhia Moana Incorporated Society members are worried about the impact on kai moana and the threatened dotterel shorebirds in the area.
They have collected signatures in the petition which asks Ōtorohanga District Council to work with landowner Tainui Kāwhia Incorporation to create a road at Tom French Grove to provide more direct access to the beach.
Kāwhia resident Horahaere Scott has collected photographs of vehicles which have come to grief in the inner Kāwhia Harbour.
The grove is at the end of Te Puia Road and provides pedestrian access to the beach.
Kawhia has a population of approximately 380 people, but resident and beach patroller Horahaere Scott said the petition had also been signed by others who whakapapa back to the Tainui waka buried near the marae.
“On Thursday there was another vehicle that got stuck out there while they were having a hui down at the marae,” Scott said. “For that to happen, it’s just not on.
“There would be at least one incident in a week, sometimes two or three.”
Scott provided The News with countless examples of photographs of stranded and overturned vehicles.
Society secretary Jacqueline Margetts said it was not just the weight of the vehicles on the shellfish bed, but the “toxic juices” that they spilled when they rolled.
“It happens all the time,” she said. “It’s not just visitors; it is locals too.
She fears one such incident could claim a life.
Kāwhia councillor Kit Jeffries is among those who have signed the petition.
“I acknowledge the ecological and traditional cultural reasons for wanting to restrict vehicular access along the foreshore, even more so now with regular incidents of vehicles having to be rescued, but only on the understanding that a financially viable alternative access to Ocean Beach is provided,” Jeffries said.
“Tainui-Kawhia has generously offered alternative routes off Tom French Grove and these are currently being investigated. How those alternatives will be funded is a discussion yet to be had. There will be future ongoing maintenance of the chosen route that will also require funding, so a lot yet to happen before any action on alternatives can be progressed.
“This has been, and will continue to be, a difficult but not insurmountable conversation.”
Tainui Kāwhia Incorporated forest manager Hano Ormsby confirmed the landowner was in talks with the council over creating an easement to allow beach access near the hot springs.
Council regulatory and growth group manager Tony Quickfall said the council was working with Waikato Regional Council which had statutory responsibility for managing all environmental effects below high tide, including environmental effects from vehicles, and Maketu Marae and Tainui Kāwhia Incorporation as the main landowners of Māori land titles which extend into the “hard sand” area.
In February, Kāwhia Community Board agreed to install improved advisory signage at Kāwhia boat ramp and investigate a feasibility study on alternative beach access through Tainui Kāwhia Incorporation forest land. Depending on the outcome of the feasibility study, the board will review the current Traffic Management Bylaw which allows vehicle access onto the beach, with a 20kph speed limit.
