\nPhoto \/y Elevated Media via KDC.<\/p>\n
The spit had lost more than 420,000 tonnes of sand in just six years. That starvation was the equivalent of 26,000 truckloads of sand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s left the spit critically thin with experts warning of a high prospect of another breach within 15 years,\u201d Wethey said.<\/p>\n
He said this risk was the backdrop for ongoing community efforts towards spit resilience and closely-linked harbour health.<\/p>\n
Wethey said those efforts took place against a backdrop of coastal inundation and sea level rise increasingly threatening the spit.<\/p>\n
He told those at the anniversary celebration in Mangawhai that the people in the Big Dig group who took renegade action had done their bit by sorting out the first major breach.<\/p>\n
Community leader and Mangawhai Rebels member Richard Bull (MCZM) said grit and long-term dedication had always been required to maintain the harbour\u2019s pulse.<\/p>\n
In 1991\u2019s Big Dig, the rebels, operating more than 40 diggers and other heavy machinery, descended on the harbour\u2019s blocked northern entrance.<\/p>\n
They carved a 30m wide channel to reopen it. This had progressively blocked over the 13 years following the major breach in the sandspit\u2019s narrowest point.<\/p>\n
Mangawhai Harbour and sandspit with Hen Island in background.
\nPhoto \/y Elevated Media via KDC.<\/p>\n
A huge 1978 storm started the large breach through the drumstick sandspit\u2019s narrow \u201cwaist\u201d. This was cemented with Cyclone Bola a decade later which worsened the breach, confirming it as the harbour\u2019s main exit point to the ocean.<\/p>\n
Wethey said harbour dredging, sand fencing and planting work and more done by the community over many years since the rebels\u2019 work aimed to boost the spit\u2019s resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must recognise that riparian planting, sediment control and controlled urban development are essential to protecting our water from the hills to the sea.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy protecting the sandspit, ensuring vital tidal flow and managing mangrove encroachment for a healthy harbour, we preserve a thriving waterway for boaties, fishers and families, while providing a sanctuary for the endangered tara iti [fairy tern] [that use the harbour] and other at-risk wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wethey is the society\u2019s representative on a new Kaipara District Council (KDC) Mangawhai Harbour working group set up in February.<\/p>\n
He said the group would add an important governance-level involvement in the harbour\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
Kaipara mayor Jonathan Larsen said the new working group had been set up to advocate for the health of the harbour and its tributaries.<\/p>\n
He said it was important to build on the work of the Mangawhai Rebels and MRHS.<\/p>\n
\u201cA huge amount of work has been undertaken since then by the society and other groups who continue to care for the harbour.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, with changing conditions and new pressures, we\u2019re seeing more mangroves, more sediment and shallower channels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am old enough to remember back in the seventies when the sandspit was breached by various storms, including Cyclone Bola, and the northern end of the sandspit became a stagnant, smelly mess.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to look to the future and ensure the harbour is healthy and functional for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Northland Regional Council chair and Resource Management Act commissioner Mark Farnsworth will chair the group. Kaipara District Council councillor Craig Jepson will represent his council. <\/p>\n
Mangawhai Heads ratepayers and stakeholders\u2019 chair Wethey will also be part of the group as well as Northland Regional Council representation, community group Mangawhai Matters, the Department of Conservation and Te Uri o Hau. <\/p>\n
\u25a0 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The spit had lost more than 420,000 tonnes of sand in just six years. That starvation was the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23968,9526,4378,1259,13489,661,55315,111,43,139,1536,69,6045,7192,183650,25444,1455,10119,1530],"class_list":["post-344620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-23968","tag-another","tag-breach","tag-community","tag-leader","tag-major","tag-mangawhai","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-next","tag-nz","tag-reality","tag-risk","tag-sandspit","tag-urgent","tag-warning","tag-within","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=344620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}