After more than 50 years of lobbying by local residents, Cape View Corner in Haumoana is to be protected from further erosion and inundation with work commencing on a rock revetment wall in early May 2021.
Both Hastings and Hawke’s Bay Regional councils have signed off on consents for a 130 metre long limestone rock wall, similar to the one at Clifton.
The $600,000 project budgeted for in the Hastings District Plan will protect public assets including the access road to Haumoana, Te Awanga and Clifton along with water pipes, power poles and the cycle track.
The revetment wall will be complemented with landscaping as part of the local reserves plan to ensure the corner remains visually attractive.
To make way for the construction of the wall, the iconic green weatherboard bach which has withstood storms and inundation for around 70-years will be removed and metal foundations put in place for a proposed commercial development now awaiting consent.
The wall is being positioned to avoid downstream impacts on properties to the north and align with coastal protection plans of the Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy expected to go forward for public consultation later this year.
Cape View Corner — at the intersection of Beach Rd, East Rd and Clifton Rd — has over the years given media dramatic images during king tides and seasonal swells when gigantic waves smash into houses along that strip.
A secondary protection plan is currently being discussed between Hastings Council and the homeowners of the 18 remaining at-risk homes to the south of the corner.
The corner and the homes to the south of it have been identified by the Tangoio to Clifton Coastal Strategy Group as one of the most vulnerable and at-risk places along the Hawke’s Bay coastline, with video and still images often used to illustrate sea level rise and climate change issues.
As Walking on Water (WOW Inc) chairperson I know the decision to go ahead with the wall will bring a great sense of relief to locals and has been a long time coming.
We’ve been lobbying for this for over a decade. With the Cape Coast going through a major growth spurt, including new subdivisions, it would be crazy not to protect the access road. We look forward to seeing further protection for our iconic beach-side villages.
I hope the builders of the wall will have visited the outstandingly successful wall built at Pourerere from mountain rocks from Ohakune. The construction is magnificent and has a large percentage under the sand level. It has probably protected the road for ever.