SAND DRIFT PROBLEM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16377, 3 November 1916, Page 8

SAND DRIFT PROBLEM.

THE OREWA BEACH ROAD.

A SUGGESTED REMEDY.

The question of how to deal with the problem of sand drifts on various beaches 3n the Auckland coasts has been discussed frequently. The Waitemata County Council has had the matter brought before it, especially in regard to the Orewa Beach portion of the Great North Road. Owing to the sand drift a difficulty is being experienced in keeping this thoroughfare open for traffic, and the engineer stated it was lately reported that the efforts of the Department of Agriculture to have it protected by the planting of Marram grass have been nullified by the depredations of straying stock.

A suggested remedy for the sand drift is mentioned in a letter that tne county council has received from Mr. A. C- Whitney. He advises the planting of '•ha Mesembryanthem ice riant, which s known commonly as '' pig's face." He states that this plant has been used most successfully by his father, Major Whitney, at Waiwera. When the latter purchased his property at Waiwera, the letter states, the sand dunes were creeping rapidly across the point between the Puhoi River and the open sea. This point .s from a quarter to half a mile in width. By the planting of the " pig's face," Mr. Whitney states, the drift was stopped Suickly along the whole length of the rewa" Beach. " Fully 100 yards by threequarters of a mile," he adds, "'has been reclaimed from the sea, and the roots cf large Christmas trees which were washed by the sea some years ago are now '00 yards from high-water mark, and horses and cattle graze on the urass which lrf« grown on the inside of the dunes." The opinion is expressed by Mr. Whitney that the sand drift along the Orewa Beach could be stopped by the planting of the " pig's face." Major Whitney has offered to give large qir«utities of the plant for the planting of the beach, but it is pointed out that it would be necessary to first erect a fence to keep stock from straying on the beach and killing the plant. The matter will be discussed at the next meeting of the council.