Waikawa Newsletter December 2023
Kia ora e te whānau mā,
I imagine I won't be the only one who will be thrilled when we reach the end of this year. I hope you all have a fun and relaxing summer. The next monthly newsletter might or might not be in January 2024. 😆
Man and dog line fish off the beach.
Special notes
A reminder from Horowhenua District Council, with regard to the beach access being currently not available:
any actions taken by individuals (no matter how well meaning), to fix the access may jeopardise any future permanent access solutions.
The landowners have made it clear that if anyone tries to create new tracks, or in any way interferes with their land, they will in all likelihood permanently close off access to everyone.
Rubbish and Recycling collections won't take place on 25 December and 01 January but will instead be moved to the Saturday prior. There is also a Recycling Station at Hank Edwards Reserve but its use really disturbs nearby residents. Please use your own recycling bin if possible, or restrict visits to the Recycling Station to the middle of the day.
Oystercatcher and chicks.
There are a couple of major items for this newsletter and quite a few minor items.
The Vehicle Access to the Beach consultation has now opened. The Council are supposed to be mailing documents to all of us — an email has just arrived. In the meantime, you can go online and see everything, including making a submission. There are half a dozen long, detailed documents that are worth reading, so set aside a couple of hours. They've got a hang of a lot of interesting information about Waikawa Beach and background to the whole matter of vehicle access to the beach.
Just a point to note, the public submissions aren't a vote or anything like that. The Councillors will see what people have sent in and then take those submissions into account for their own deliberations. Costings for the three options are $0, $140,000 and almost $1.4 million.
Quite honestly, given that in a meeting on 31 May 2023 Councillors spent 20 minutes discussing how to save $10,000 on mowing one Horowhenua Reserve, I can't see them choosing the option that would cost $1.4 million. [I don't have the exact link to hand, but start about 6 or 7 hours in on the 9 hour long HDC Council Meeting - 31 May 2023. Councillors spent a very long time trying to find ways to save on HDC expenditure.]
Another major item is about the quality of the river water, which as usual is not good with high E. Coli counts. That poor quality has led the WBRA to cancel the Boat Day part of their Annual Summer Events.
So where can you swim? Well, swimming in the river is always taking a bit of a chance, but when they test the water in the sea rather than in the river, it almost every time comes out clear. So swimming in the sea is a pretty good bet. Just use any of the tracks that allow you to access the beach on foot and head to the sea for a swim.
Royal Spoonbill in the estuary.
As for travel between Waikawa Beach and, well, anywhere else, we have the nightmare of the roadworks between Ōtaki and Levin, in particular the roadworks at the Waikawa Beach Road intersection with State Highway 1.
One resident emailed Waka Kotahi with grave concerns about safety at that intersection and didn't really get back a very satisfying response. Clinton Dunstan, Stakeholder & Communications Advisor replied via email: "All traffic management has been removed from the Waikawa Beach road intersection for the holidays. We will be returning on the 9th of Jan to finish that section."
Oh, you better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
On a better note, Craig Kidd, Parks and Property Officer | Āpiha Papa Rēhia, Rawa, emailed me: "Can you please pass on Councils appreciation to the community for the time given with the plantings days and there is something to be said for team work. Our success is due to the work that you all have put in, as we could not have achieved what we have."
The recent plantings between the Miratana Track and the Groyne have held up well, with recent high water only lapping at the post and tape fence that was put up to stop vehicles driving across the area.
Black-fronted dotterels.
The tides were very high for several days and although we had a bit of rain there must have been a lot up in the Tararua Range. The river has flushed, pushing down quite a lot of weed and cutting a new channel closer to the sea.
The Rural Mower paid us a visit on 14 December 2023, trimming the edges of Waikawa Beach Road.
The new art work on the Chorus box on Waikawa Beach Road seems to be complete. It's bright and cheerful.
Chorus box art completed.
As you probably know, in the recent election Tim Costley was voted in for the Ōtaki Electorate. If you're interested you can watch his Maiden Speech, given on 12 December 2023. Tim Costley Maiden Speech (Address in Reply Debate - Video 55).
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was voted back in for Te Tai Hauāuru. Here's her Maiden Speech from 03 Dec 2020: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer Maiden Speech.
At a meeting on 13 December 2023 Councillors voted to prohibit Freedom Camping at Waikawa Beach.
Properties for sale: 24 Strathnaver Drive, 30 Strathnaver Drive, 11 James Street, 47 Reay Mackay Grove.
The most recent spinifex plantings near the track off Reay Mackay Grove have been a hit with the birds nesting nearby. A Pied Stilt pair nested in the driftwood outside 1 Reay Mackay Grove and have been aggressive in seeing off anyone who ventures too close. They produced 3 chicks that I last saw a couple of weeks ago.
One NZ Dotterel pair was nesting in the area parallel to recent plantings but they've now disappeared. Three Oystercatcher pairs also nested there and so far I've seen one pair with 3 chicks and another with 1 chick. They seem to have moved the chicks into the new spinifex area behind the tape.
Oystercatcher chick enjoys shelter amongst recently planted spinifex.
We've finally seen a Royal Spoonbill in the estuary and the black-fronted Dotterels have showed up again. There have also been white-faced herons, paradise ducks, regular ducks, and all the birds we commonly see such as gulls, swallows, shags and the rest.
Residents have been concerned by a recent incident of spotlighting
where someone drives around in a vehicle with a spotlight and shoots at targets from the road. We assume they're shooting at rabbits, but they could easily accidentally shoot pets or even people. The practice is illegal anyway. If this happens near you ring 111 immediately.
"Kei te noho au ki tātahi." I'm staying at the beach.
Links (in date order)
- The Laws, Bylaws and Policies that determine acceptable vehicle use on the beach
- Racetrack beach seen as disruptive, aggressive, frightening
- New Manakau Facebook Group
- Endangered, annoyed or frightened by nearby shooting? Ring the Police
- Pied Stilt chicks in the estuary
- For sale: 30 Strathnaver Drive
- For sale: 11 James Street
- Eggs and chicks in the estuary, December 2023
- Road construction at SH1 intersection till 22 December 2023
- Oystercatcher chicks in the spinifex
- For sale: 47 Reay Mackay Grove
- Vehicle access summer consultation update, December 2023
- Freedom Camping at Waikawa Beach, December 2023 update
- Have you seen the White-faced Herons?
- Beach access update, 14 December 2023
- Rubbish and recycling changes for Christmas 2023
- Power interruption 19 December 2023, 1100 to 1230
- WBRA Summer Activities
- Dine out at Popup Eats Manakau on Tuesday 19 December 2023
Pied Stilt in aggressive flight.
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Thanks everyone for the support. I've had a lot of great feedback on my newsletters. I really appreciate that.
Me te aroha,
Miraz Jordan
kiaora@waikawanews.nz
WaikawaNews: https://waikawanews.nz
aims to provide accurate and factual information on matters of interest to the local community. And to share photos of and information about local wildlife and landscapes.