Shore erosion worries club

Press, 30 July 1985, Page 9

Shore erosion worries club

Big seas have given the New Brighton foreshore a heavy pounding over the last few days and the effects are starting to show. A bank about 20m on the seaward side of the New Brighton Surf Life-Saving Club’s pavilion has started to subside. Driftwood is piled against fences along the beach. “We are certainly keeping a close eye on the coast, said the Christchurch City Council’s parks manager, Mr Kingsley Clark. It was the second or third time this year that a high tide and southerly winds had coincided, forcing the high-water mark higher up the beach than usual. Mr Clark said that council staff would return to the foreshore today to see if any . banks needed to be reinforced. Mr Todd Carbines, a New Brighton resident, was yesterday afternoon unloading

pieces of concrete from an old driveway down a bank in front of the surf club’s pavilion. He had been in touch with club officials to offer the reinforcing for a bank, which had started to subside. The seas had been high for several days, pounding the coastline, said Mr Carbines. They had even washed through the shoreline fence in front of the New Brighton clock tower. Barrier wires and warning signs have been placed by the council along parts of the beach. The president of the New Brighton Surf Life-Saving Club, Mr David Phillipson, said last evening that the club was worried about the erosion of sand in front of the pavilion. Temporary measures had been taken to prevent more of the bank from being washed away, he said. Club members would discuss the problem in about two weeks and it was likely that the Christchurch City Council would be asked for help, said Mr Phillipson. The seas are expected to ease somewhat today. A marine forecast issued last evening predicted calmer seas and a change from southerly to north-east winds.