Community News
A vibrant, connected community!
There's lots happening in this beautiful place so keep in touch by:
- Joining the local FaceBook page
- Reading current newsletter
- Coming along to a monthly meeting
- Joining the Committee!
Other local FaceBook pages include:
- Pukehina (and Surroundings Areas) buy, swap or sell
- You know you are from Pukehina Beach
- Pukehina Volunteer Fire Brigade
- Pukehina Surf Rescue
- Pukehina Fishing Club
Oct 2024 Update for Coastal dune damage (caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, Hale and Lola 2023)
October 2024 Update:
Kia ora koutou, the final dune repair work following Cyclones Lola and Gabrielle will be happening this coming week 29th Oct - 4th November. "The remaining work is limited to a short length of beach (about 280m) extending from 203-233 Pukehina Parade. This work is building on the earlier interim works in this area. This was the most seriously affected area of the beach in the earlier erosion and to date we have only been able to reinstate a minimal dune width in this area. We had hoped to complete the reinstatement work in early 2024 however, adequate beach repair has only occurred over the last month. Weather permitting, the works will likely start on Tuesday 29 October when the tides are next suitable. We suspect the work will take 5-6 working days."
Residents in this area have received an email with details on plants post push up. We will also have a message up on the community noticeboard opposite The Store from Labour Day. Latest newsletter out now on our Coast Care page.
Please take care around the machines operating on the beach and follow the instructions of our contractors Readfieilds, and their onsite Health and Safety team.
If anyone has any questions re push up mahi or plants, please reach out to Richard at 223 Pukehina Parade who is in touch with Jim Dahm. Any questions re weed spraying or planting back into sections for 2025 season please get in touch with Chris Pronk of Coast Care on Chris.Pronk@boprc.govt.nz or 020 4116 2959
May 2024 Update:
Latest newsletter out now on our Coast Care page. We have plants for the push up area arranged and Chris from Coast Care is encouraging people to reach out re spraying for weeds ahead of planting.
If you live in other parts of the beach and are keen on plants please get in touch with Chris and he will come out for a site visit and kōrero! Consider planting right back into your property to create a more resilient dune and get spinifex runners established well back from the toe of the dunes to be more prepared for times of storm and erosion.
November 2023 Update:
Cyclone Lola hit the beach late October and caused damage in the area of the beach that was most affected from the first two cyclones this year. Other parts of the beach withstood damage and plants are looking great with lots of sand build up! We have had the beach assessed by our coastal expert Jim Dham and we will commence the last push up works for the year starting from the 4th Dec-20th.
Please take care around the machines operating on the beach and follow the instructions of our contractors Readfieilds, and our onsite Health and Safety people. Please visit the Coast Care page for more details on areas to be completed. We will be holding a community hui mid next year to discuss our Coastal Strategy. Ka nui te mihi.
June 2023 Update:
Good news - we can now commence with some further dune restoration work. Please see the update here on Coast Care page with information about the scope of mahi to be completed at this time. Please note that only push up work will be happening this year as there is a lack of plants to complete reshaping work. We would like to hold a community meeting about the Coast Care and Dune Restoration strategy for Pukehina. We'd love to share success stories of reshape and planting work, learn more from Jim Dahm and Chris Pronk about coastal erosion and approaches to help build resilient dune systems, and gather your thoughts and options moving forward. We will confirm this date shortly - looking to be November.
May Update:
Following the emergency pushup completed in early March we have been waiting for a window to complete the second stage of this mahi. Unfortunately the high tide beach and prior commitments from our contractors have meant this has not be able to happen yet. We acknowledge this is frustrating for some people but we are working with nature and the weather patterns have not been favourable this year. We have pleased to let the community know we have secured our contractors for the the month of May so are waiting on beach conditions to improve. (Also a reminder that the worst affected areas with property at risk has had one lot of works done). If you would like to help out in this space please get in touch - will definitely need monitors on the push up days. Ka nui te mihi.
Cyclone Gabrielle 14th Feb 2023 Update: Cyclone Gabrielle has been a devastating event for our country and our aroha flows for those people affected in Northland, Auckland, Hawkes' Bay and Gisborne. We unfortunately experienced some additional damage along our coastline - the worst in some areas in over a century. We are working with our coastal expert to do an emergency push up in the worst affected areas of the beach, and will be completing push up and re-shape work in other areas of the beach once it has recovered more. View the actions were are taking here: Feb 2023
Keep updated through our Coast Care page where you can also report new erosion damage, or pop your name down for dune plants for this coming planting season (using the form at the bottom of the Coast Care page). NB: there is a plant shortage this year so we are doing our best to arrange more.
Ngā mihi, take care at this time, and please remember that we are a volunteer committee doing our very best to arrange this work. Please reach out and offer to assist, we would welcome more hands.Nov
Community Consultation on Pukehina Development Rate with WBOPDC
Update October 2024: A decision has been made by Council and more information from the consultation can be found on the WBOPDC website and link:
"Pukehina development rate
The collection of the Pukehina Development Rate has been permanently stopped. The remaining funds will be used for other projects in the Pukehina community that need funding.
"We decided to permanently stop collecting the Pukehina Development Rate, as Council has no current plans to develop a wastewater scheme in Pukehina. We heard mixed views from Pukehina residents on what to do with the money collected to date with support being received for refunding and repurposing the money. Noting the complexities involved with refuding the money to all properties we decided to repurpose this for existing projects in the Pukehina community that need funding. We heard through feedback the importance of having clarity around how this would be administered, and we will work with the local community to determine what these projects will be".
Other decisions were made by Council that can be found in the complete Long Term Plan document here: https://yourplace.westernbay.govt.nz/pukehina-development-rate
Background information:
The current picture (from WBOPDC website)
In 2000, Council introduced a targeted rate of $20 a year for Pukehina property owners to go towards a potential future wastewater scheme (sewerage scheme) for the area. In 2022, the Pukehina Beach Ratepayers and Residents Association asked us to consider changing the purpose of the rate. We asked the community what they thought and based on their feedback we decided to pause the rate until there was more certainty on the future of water reforms being carried out by Central Government. Since the rules about water projects have changed, we now have the freedom to decide what to do with that money.
Framing the future
The current balance of the fund is $528,053. This consultation round is your opportunity to share what thoughts you have on the monies collected over the last 22 years...
Keep in mind it's a significant amount so the options to use it across several community projects (Cycleway/walkway, skatepark, bike track, Hall upgrades etc) and keep some in the pot for the original intention of wastewater (e.g. ongoing septic tank cleaning) could all be possibilities.
Ororoa Reserve works complete!
After four years of mahi we began work on the 5th April, on the restoration of Ororoa Reserve as part of the Cycleway/Walkway project and have completed this! We worked with Pukehina Surf Club and Ngāti Whakahemo to utilise the sand from the surf club site works, and place this along Ororoa Reserve to reinstate the eroded foreshore. We removed over 18m2 (six big truck loads) of concrete waste that has been dumped over many years, trimmed the trees, removed waste and rubbish, relocated the park picnic tables and created an area that is more accessible, safe and enjoyable for the community. All good news we think! Check out full project update here.
Cyclone Hale 10th Jan 2023
The beach has been hit quite hard in certain places as Cyclone Hale brought over 9m waves to the coastline on Tuesday night 10th Jan. We are compiling a report for our coastal expert so if you have damage in front of your property, or a local spot on the beach, could you please email this through to us with beach number attached. If your property had a push up or reshape work done in 2022 that has held its ground, could you also please send us photos. pukehina.bra@gmail.com
We expect to arrange a push up in the worst affected areas mid to late February depending on beach recovery so we will keep the community updated.
For more information on how we have supported our community when significant erosion occurs please visit our 2022 update here or see the Coast Care page under 'Community' tab. Ngā mihi and take care.
Update on 2022 - reflection on the year
Download our latest update here which is a reflection on projects and progress made by the Association Committee. Overall we had some good wins (progress made with Midway Park redevelopment, Coast Care push up process, background mahi on the Community Centre/Hall) and we look forward to seeing everyone at the AGM on 23rd March. We thank everyone in the community for their support :)
Community Newsletters
Keep connected and see some of what's happening in this great community!
Community Notice Board
We have two community noticeboards which are available free of charge for community related notices.
One is located on the Pukehina Community Centre/Hall and the other is a mobile sign popped out on the road opposite The Pukehina Store. Contact pukehina.bra@gmail.com if you’d like to share a notice or event with the community.
We're happy to share!
