THE ST. OLAIR BEACH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17677, 15 July 1919, Page 6

THE ST. OLAIR BEACH.

TO THE EDITOB. Sib, —Tour note of warning regarding the danger at St Clair comes none too soon. 1 do not wish to pose as an alarmist, but any intelligent study of the conditions at St. Clair will .disclose the fact that the beach is, and has been for some weeks, in a dangerous condition. The contention tuat the sand will come and go as it likes and as it has always done is only an evasion of the real state of affairs. If left to itself the sand will certainly come and go with the changing winds, but much of the "going" can be prevented by the construction of a proper system of groynes. Massive, costly works are not at all necessary. The groynes should have been commenced three weeks ago when the beach was at its lowest leved, and built up as the sand filled in br-.tween tlvem. They would be just as fftVctive, ro matter how temporary their construction. Fascines of scrub weighted w:lh bwdders would do quite well, provided they were sufficiently stable to resist the a.~;:on of the waves, and would hold the beach quite well until more lasting structures ot timber or concrete could be put in. If they are constructed now on top of the sand that has already come in, care must be taken if any erosion of tho beach takes place in heavy weather to fill in immediately underneath. Any under-run of tho waves beneath the groynes is fatal to their efficiency. II we wait for the Public Works Department to send plans to Wellington audi go through tho usual leisurely negotiations beloved of Government departments, we may find tho sea at our back doors some •»£ these mornings. Forty-eight hours of south-west gale and a high tido might play havoc with what is loft of the sandhills. Tho contention of tho chairman of the Domain Board that the trouble dates from the erection of the esplanade wall eight years ago is not quite correct We must go back further than that. The trouble has been a progressive one ever since tho erection of the first wall at St Clair. There is no doubt that the scour set up by the recoil of tho waves from that wall lowered the sea floor beyona low-water mark to an extent that has never been made good. But this is no time to argue about causes. It is a time for immediate defensive action. There is no sidestepping the fact that the sea has lately taken away portions of the sandhills which liavo stood lor many years, certainly long before the days of the early settlement Let us not be lulled into a false sense of security by tho fact that 3ft or 4ft of sand have come back during tho past week or two. One tide during an on-shore gale will remove the most of that and send it alone towards St. Kilda

The Erosion of sandy beaches, on a coast bko ours, is not a continuous oncraiion over any lengthened period. Serious'inroads occur only at the intermittent periods of heavy on-shore gales, which unfortunately are only too frequent at this season of the vear— I fc>t. Kilda, July 14.

Sib -It is a pity that your reporter who visited the Ocean Beach last week did not do :o at low tide, instead of at the ton of a spring tide. Had he done so the marvellous improvement that had- taken place night have been pointed out to him. A few weeks ago there was nothing but stones showing from the southern end of the esplanade right up to a chain beyond the Forbury road. Last Wednesday you could have counted on your .fingers the stones showing on the beach, apart from those immediately under the walL Mr Macasscy is unfortunate in attributing- the return of tho sands to the southerly winds as it is to their absence during the last fortnight that the improvement may be attributed The oiimion of Mr Hancock that tno esplanade wall accounts for the lowerm S of the whole foreshoro is hardly worth wlnlo taking, seriously, but if it were thero is ample evidence m a lumber of photographs, that have been taken, both before and after the wall was built, which <>-o to prove the fallacy of his contention. ° The bathing- season of 1917 was conspicuous for the finest beach that I can remember In ISOI the sea encroached right up to' the inner footpath of the present esplanade—so much so that a house standing whore the present band rotunda is had to be re moved If the present wall, so much condemned by Mr Hancock, had not been erected where would these properties have HWn n I 4 »<!<»** evident that some! thing wil hay© to ho done on the St .Kilda side and with the success that lias at tended the building of the esplanade wall a continuation of this seems most desirable The Domain Board has tho mea£s ■at its disposal If a. poll of the. .were taken and the issue put clearly before them, with a guarantee that the work would be carried .out under the supervision of a qualified engineer, the amount required for the wall'and an extension of tho esP i a 1 believe ' be dieerfully ■ i.~» ? ° o ™™™* might be an P> cached for a subsidy, as i„ the case of the present wall. £

I ;im .rlad to see that your reDorter remarked on the ludicrous appearance of the row of posts called groynes. Thoro is a demand at nresnnt for timber. These posts should bo taken out and sold-I am , V °£T St. Cl«.r July la. G. A. EWraT'