ST. CLAIR BEACH

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18200, 22 March 1921, Page 6

ST. CLAIR BEACH

■ CONTINUED EROSION BY] THE SEA. ESPLANADE AFFECTED. STONE WALL TO BE CONSTRUCTED. At the adjourned meeting of the City Council, held last evening, the following letter was read from Mr B. Johnston, secretary of the Domain. Board: — ■ The reference from the City Council relative to _ the representations made by the deputation from the St. Kilda. Borough Council and residents of St. Clair and bt. Kilda in. re the St. Clair Beach and sandhills was considered by the board on the lath inst. A report by the city engineer, to which the public works engineer has signified his approval, was also before the meeting. Briefly, the recommendations of the engineers are as follow: 1. That no more piles be driven under present conditions. 2. That portion of the foot, of the sandhill be faced with stone, and that the spaces beneath the pile planks be filled with stone. Total estimated cost, £1250.. ' b. That, as the encroachment is becoming more serious every day, and is a dominion question, the Surveyor-general be asked to make a careful coast survey from Lawyer's’ Head to Black Head, noting depths and currents and wave motions and character of bottom for a mile from the shore. That with the above' information in hand the advice of the best possible coast . erosion expert should be obtained. The engineer adds that, from his study of the subject, a sandy beach at St. Clair • can only b© maintained by ' running out into the coastal current a structure that will break this current, and, hold the sand that it so quickly removes. With the above information before it, the board after careful consideration, decided that steps be immediately taken to carry out the engineer’s recommendations with respect to facing the foot of the sandhills with stone, the work to be . limited to the frontage of the private properties meantime, at an estimated cost of not more than £SOO. Instructions have also been given to bring the whole question before the notice of the Surveyorgeneral in terms of the engineer’s recommendations. The question of finance has not been determined by the 'board, and the matter is left for direction by the contributing bodies. / Cr M'Donald asked if it was the intention of the Domain Board to carry out the instruction of the engineers regarding the expenditure of £1250. iThe Mayor said ho took it that the board was recommending the adoption of the engineer’s report. Cr M'Donald said he noticed that £SOO was to be voted to carry the rock work along portion of the beach onljr. He hoped that the wall would bo carried right along the beaoh._ Cr Hancock said that the motion, adopted ' by the Domain Board was that the cqn- ; tributing bodies should bo asked to provide a sum not exceeding £SOO for the work immediately required. He would move that the City Council and the St. Kilda Council be asked to contribute the sum of £SOO. Cr Green seconded the motion. He was of the opinion that the Government should also be asked for a subsidy. The Domain Board considered it absolutely necessary that something should be done at once. He had known the beach for the past 50 years, and he had never seen St. Glair and St. Kilda beach in such a dangerous position as it was that day. The sandhills were gradually going away—there was no doubt about that, ~He also understood that the position had become worse within the last 24- hours,' and that the channel was deeper now than / it, had ever been known before. _ It was absolutely necessary that the. should do something. It was a dominion question, and they should hammer away at the Gov- ■ eminent, and press home the danger lying at their doors. The people would wake up some morning and find that a canal had been scooped out by nature. If they had carried the stone wall along the foothills at the time of the recent erosion there would not have been the same danger as there was that day. In reply to a question, Cr Hancock said thafthe £SOO asked for was a matter quite apart from a Government subsidy. That matter was being considered apart from the present application. Cr' M'Donald asked if .they were to hang up the matter until such time as they got into touch with the Government. Cr Hancock: We have no such intention. Cr M'Donald moved as an amendment that the sum of £l2so’should be voted by the City Council and the St. Kilda Borough Council in order that the Recommendations of the engineers should bo carried out. The ’ money voted by the council the last time tor a stone wall had proved an absolute protection, and the wall should have been ■ carried right along the front of the sandhills, but unfortunately it had- stopped, and the whole of the properties east of the end of the wall were in danger. The spending ot £SOO would not meet the trouble. Within the last 24 hours the sea had encroached so much that it had reduced the beach by 3£t, and had also cut off 2ft or 3ft-of the * v sandhills. *The tides had been very high ihe ■ last two or three days—the highest he had ever seen—and the wavee had been striking into the esplanade. So much so that the Public Works Committee had instructed men to throw in stones at the bottom of - the-esplanade to prevent the sea washing k>ut the small stones at the bottom. The men were at present employed at this work. There was now not more than a foot or - two of sandhill left at the back of LT Dickie’s property. If the two engineers knew their business then the hills were jf their recommendations were carried out. Cr Hayward seconded the amendment. He said he did not think some of the councillors realised. the seriousness of the situation. He was satisfied that the groynes had done little or no good. The fact of the matter was that the groynes were too late. Cr Wilson «ud he hoped the 'amendment would not bo carried. The Domain Board had arranged for the expenditure of £SOO, and he did not see why they • should spend more. The matter was really one for the concern of the Government, and if the present trouble had occurred in the North Island it would have been attended to by the Government. But it was in the South Island, and was left to those who were willing to do it. It was not altogether a matter of protecting the foreshore* of the city, but of doing something for the Borough of St. Kilda, which was unable to bear all the heavy expenditure involved. The City -Council had spent a good deal already, and the £SOO now proposed would not be expended for some time yet. If the total of £I2OO was required, ; the council would be asked for it, but' in the meantime £SOO would be sufficient. The Mayor; Does the protection of the esplanade oome out of this,? .- Cr Wilson: In the ordinary maintenance schedule there is a sum of £350, and as the sea has mad© such marked advances on the esplanade during the last few days, that money is to bo spent almost immediately. That is in the ordinary schedule. : ■Cr Shacklock said he thought it would he quite sufficient if the request of the Domain Board were granted. If more money were wanted the board would be ready enough to ask for it. He did not ‘ think the council should spend a large sum of money at St. Clair for the protection of another borough. The trouble at St. Clair-had been accentuated con- ' siderably sine© the erection of the esplanade wall and the tipping of stone at the foot oi the sandhill?. Before that was done there was a reasonably good beach at St. . Clair. From the day the esplanade was built until the present time the beach had gradually disappeared, and while this structure and the stone might not be solely responsible, they had undoubtedly played a Jorge part in it. Proceeding,' Cr Shacklock said ho, very strongly deprecated the cry of danger to the Flat. The Flat was safer to-day than ever it was, and in saying that he would like to remind them that if this area were submerged he would be .a greater sufferer in the way of damage to property than any other councillor present. There 'was a time when the breakers at the Ocean - Beach were visible from the Kensington Hotel comer, but they could not be. seen ■ at all to-day. The people of Dunedin would have tq: realise that the St. Clair Beach ■ was gone— perhaps not to return for many a.long day. . ) 'Ck M'Donald: It was a beautiful beam only a few weeks ago. 1 Cr Shacklock: It has not been beautiful ii for years. /: Cr Wilson; It would have been better if the groynes had not been put there.Continuing, Cr Shacklock said thajaupply " of sand at the Ocean Beach was a great l-i • deal less than it used to be, and that was <’one of the difficulties of the situation. Some good might bo done if they had about ' £40,000 to spend ‘and used that money for buying up those properties on the sand- £ hills, which should never have been put 5-there, and raising Victoria road towards the racecourse some Oft or Bft in height, Then the sandhills could ?be left to look Iv efter themselves, and perhaps some day they would again have a satisfactory beach. - In the meantime he considered the recom'i 'i meSidation was on tlfe right lines, and if £SOO were insufficient, why not vote £1200? ■<> Jeffery; Why not make it £4OOO or _ . _

Cr Shaddock: I notice that if it comes to spending money Cr Jeffery holds up both hands every time, but he has never yet told us where we are to get any money from. Cr M‘Donald : What is the ratio of the £I2OO among the various bodies? The Mayor: There is £BSO from the city, £2OO from St. Kilda, and £2OO from the Domain Board.

Cr Douglas said that the authority that they had to look to give them a lead was the Domain Board, or its engineers. If the board wanted more money, it could come to the council for more. If the encroachment continued the Mayor might see his way to call a public meeting to thoroughly discuss the danger. He thought that the Government should do its duty in regard to this menace, more especially when it was remembered .that the Government took out of the Consolidated Fund enough money to pay the cost of a road from Wellington to the Lower Hutt. Cr Jeffery asked how much money had been spent. The Mayor: £3OOO for the groynes, but not including the stone. Cr Jeffery said he thought the major scheme should be adopted. He asked how much had been spent on the existing stone wall. Or M'Donald said that about £3OO or £4OO had been, spent for the wall. Cr Jeffery wanted to know why they did not spend more on the same lines. A Councillor; That’s what we want the £SOO for. Cr -Jeffery said that if £20,000 was to make a good job let them spend it. Look at Timaru! What did Timaru cost? asked a councillor. Cr Jeffery said he did not know, but if the cost had been hundreds of thousands of pounds the work had beenqdone, but the work at St. Clair had not been done —at least it had proved of no use. He wanted to know what the sea would be doing while they were spending the £SO0 —why not go in for the larger scheme? Cr Colder said that the groynes were ot no use.* The only way to protect the sandhills was to put in the stones along the edge of -the beach. A sloping rubble -wall 12ft high and 6ft deep would cost about £66 per chain. He thought about 40 chains would be required. Cr Jeffery: It will cost £20,000 before we finish. Cr Colder, continuing, said the Domain Board should try to get £3OOO. Had the money , that had been expended on the groynes been diverted to the stone wall they would have > had about 45 chains. Ot Sinoock said that in Oamaru they had been throwing in huge stones to try to protect the waterfront there, but what the ultimate result might be he could not say. He thought, however, that the work at St. Clair could only be a temporary measure. He favoured the proposal to get the Gov-, eminent engineer to report, on St. Clair. The grant of £SOO should be 'agreed to, and if the board wanted more they could come to the council again. , The amendment moved by Cr M'Donald was lost, the voting being as follows: Against: Crs Larnncb. Ritchie, Green, Douglas, Shacklock, Wilson, Hancock, Scott. Sinoock, Thorn. For: Crs Hayward, M'Donald,-Colder, Jeffery. The recommendation of the Domain Board that £SOO be spent, as detailed above, was then put and carried.