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Every month, summary comments are added to this page so the community can keep up to date with progress on this project. There will be further opportunities for public comment once the management plan has been drafted - it will then be released for consultation. In the interim, any feedback can be made to: dcc@dcc.govt.nz

Update: October 2009

The generally high beach profile (the level of sand) on Ocean Beach continues.  The track from the Esplanade end has been re-opened, and the steps to the beach have been reinstated.  While there has been some sand loss, a good deal of the very healthy reserves of sand remained until recently.

The Project Team is reviewing the information that is being gathered as background for the Long Term Management Plan,  and the program for completing the studies and preparing the Plan remains on track.  The maintenance regime will  continue as the information gathering process draws to a close.

Update: September 2009

The sand loss on Ocean Beach over winter months (July especially) has now been largely recovered. In the interim, the damage to the Reno mattresses (that provides protection to the toe of the dune at Middle Beach) was repaired, as was damage to that section of the rubble wall that had been uncovered. The repaired Reno mattresses and the reinstated rubble wall have been re-covered by sand, and the remaining machinery has now been removed from the beach.

Monitoring of sand levels will go on, and the maintenance regime will also continue on an 'as required' basis as the information gathering process concludes. The Project Team appointed to draft the Long Term Management Plan is now meeting on a regular basis, while the program for completing the studies of the beach, adjacent off shore environment, as well as the eventual preparation of the Plan itself, remains on track.

Update: July 2009

The high beach profile (the level of sand) on Ocean Beach for the first half of the year has proved invaluable in recent weeks.  While there was some sand loss in the early part of winter, a good deal of the very healthy reserves of sand remained until recently. Much of it was stripped away by the strong winds and high tides experienced during July.  With the removal of that sand buffer, a section of the rubble wall has been uncovered and there has also been damage to the Reno mattresses that provided protection to the toe of the dune at Middle Beach. The Reno mattresses are being repaired, the rubble wall reinstated, and sand levels at Middle  Beach are being  topped up on an 'as required' basis.

That maintenance regime will be continued while the information gathering process draws to a close.  A Project Team has been appointed to study the information that is being collated  for the Long Term Management Plan,  and the program for completing the studies and preparing the Plan remains on track.

Update - June 2009

The usual winter weather has caused a significant reduction in the beach profile (sand levels) on the Ocean Beach. 

There is no cause for concern, but the area is now being monitored more frequently.  The Council's applications for retrospective consent for emergency works on the beach (carried out in 2007 and 2008) have now been heard by the Otago Regional Council,  and their decision is expected shortly.  Much of the background data and studies needed for the Long Term Management Plan have been collated, and a Project Team  been appointed to review this. 

Further information is still coming to hand, and the Project Team's review should be completed before the end of the year. The draft Management Plan will then be submitted to the Council and released to the public for consultation.

Update - April 2009

The City Council's applications for retrospective consents for the erosion control work at Ocean Beach have been scheduled for hearing by the Otago Regional Council at the end of June. (Specific details of those works were set out in the February 2009 update.). As previously advised, most of the comprehensive studies needed before the Long Term Management Plan can be prepared are now to hand. The studies will be completed later this year.  In the near future, a Project Team will be appointed to consider the data that has been collected to date.

Update - March 2009

There has been good progress with the various studies required before a long term plan for Ocean Beach can be developed. Many of these studies are now to hand, and the remainder should be completed over the next few months.  When the information from all studies is available, options for a long term plan for the Ocean Beach will be identified.  Meanwhile, favourable weather conditions over the last few months have meant that overall sand levels on the beach are as high as they have been for decades.

This is especially pleasing, as it should allow time for the Council to identify and measure all matters that may affect the management plan for Ocean Beach, rather than risk having to respond to any individual issue in isolation.

Update - February 2009

The Council is applying for consents from both its own Planning Department and from the Otago Regional Council for erosion protection works at Ocean Beach. These works are part of the holding pattern that was put in place to protect the sand dunes following the emergency erosion control works undertaken in 2007. This holding pattern will remain in place while a long term plan for Ocean Beach is developed. The consents applied for also include retrospective consent for the emergency works undertaken in 2007, and the applications will be publicly notified on 14 March 2009.

The emergency works and holding pattern include the following:

• The transportation of rocks and sand and stockpiling of sand at 2 locations adjacent to the beach.
• Deposition and contouring of sand on the beaches.
• The storage of machinery in the Kettle Park area.
• The construction of a Reno Mattress to protect the existing sand sausages and additional Reno Mattresses where necessary to protect vulnerable parts of the beach.
• Removal of the clay capping and rubble for safety reasons.

UPDATE - JANUARY 2009

Favourable weather conditions over the summer to date  have meant the volume of sand on the beach continues to rise steadily. 

In the meantime, focus group meetings  with key stakeholders continued during December and January, with the final group of meetings with these stakeholders scheduled for mid- February.  Ecological studies (fauna and flora) of the area have now been completed. 

That report on the area's ecology will be the first of a number of comprehensive reports to be received that will eventually provide the information and data needed for the draft plan for Ocean Beach.

UPDATE - December 2008

The surveys and investigations scheduled for Ocean Beach in 2008 are now complete.

A full topographical survey has been completed, together with a bathymetric survey. The automated cameras are running, and the pictures from them are available for viewing though the NIWA website. Tenders closed on 12 December for Hydrodynamic Modelling, which is the study into such elements as wave refraction, sediment transport, and the effect of storms on the beach. This will be part of the further research into the dynamics of the beach in the New Year.

There has also been good progress with a series of Focus Group meetings with the key stakeholders, and these will continue into 2009.

As these studies progress and the information base grows, the Council will continue to liaise with the Otago Regional Council and the Department of Conservation to identify the best solution for the Ocean Beach.

As previously advised, the results of these studies will form part of a draft plan for the Ocean Beach which will be fully consulted with the community before it is formally considered by the Council.

UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2008

The two research studies that were commissioned recently are now well underway.

The first of these (the ecological study into fauna and flora) should be finished before the end of 2008, while the second research program (studies into historical, cultural and social elements) will take some months to complete.

The next steps in the latter studies include further consultation with the public and community groups. Letters are being sent to those groups now, inviting them to attend focus group meetings that are being arranged for late November/early December.

Discussion at these meetings should help identify key community aspirations for Ocean Beach, the foreshore and the Domain generally.

A full topographical survey of Ocean Beach was carried out in late October as part of the long term planning process for the Beach, and a bathymetric survey should get underway next month.

Separately, a Cam-Era site has been identified, and two cameras have now been installed that are providing digital, time lapse photos of the beach and surf lines on the Ocean Beach.

The images provided by these cameras can be seen on the NIWA website (opens in a new window).

Update - October 2008

The very necessary research into the best solution for Ocean Beach is now well underway.

In the last few weeks studies have been commissioned into the historical, cultural, and social, elements that will help us understand how human intervention in the past might have affected the present situation. An ecological study of the area is also underway. Following discussions with NIWA (the National Institute of Weather and Atmospheric Research), a Cam-Era site has also been selected. This will provide time lapse digital images of the shoreline and surf zones to locate erosion 'hot spots'.

A full topographical survey of Ocean Beach will be carried out this month. Work is also underway to carry out a bathymetric (sea floor) survey off Ocean Beach later this year or early in 2009.

Most of the above projects should be completed by March 2009, and will help us to prepare a draft long term plan for the management of the Ocean Beach. As previously advised, there will be further public consultation with the public before the reviewed plan is presented to the Council for consideration. It is only at the end of that process that consents for the long term plan will be sought.