Residents are challenging the district council on its lack of consultation after it removed stairs and created a barricade to a Wainui Beach accessway.
Wainui locals described the move as “upsetting” and an “insult” during a tense meeting last week.
One resident took it upon himself to remove the barricade, which he said was “unlawful” and had been put up in “a sneaky way”.
“We just want our steps back,” another local said.
Gisborne District Council agreed to replace the stairs last November. However, it reviewed the decision when cost estimates rocketed past $100,000.
Council officials said scaffolding stairs at the Tuahine Crescent Beach accessway had been an unconsented, short-term summer solution, and apologised for its communication process.
But residents said they were left confused as to why the “perfectly good stairs” were removed. One said the stairs didn’t move in “the biggest swell I’ve seen in 5-10 years”.
The accessway and temporary stairs were closed and removed in late March. Locals found out through a letter in the mailbox.
Access to the beach was available 300m away at Lloyd George Rd, the council said in the letter.
“They [stairs] were not engineered for long-term use in a high-risk coastal environment. Recent swells were impacting the structure,” council director of liveable communities Michèle Frey told Local Democracy Reporting.
“We acknowledge that engagement with residents about the decision to remove the temporary steps needed to be clearer, and are working to fix that now.”
The scaffolding steps cost $3900 to install, hire and remove, she said.
During a consultation meeting at Tuahine Cres on Friday, Frey joined communications and engagement manager Jade Lister-Baty, principal scientist Dr Murry Cave and team leader liveable spaces assets Natalie Waihi to talk with residents.
At the meeting, residents said they wanted immediate resolutions and were willing to crowdfund.
Frey said the council was committed to looking at long-term solutions, but most likely would not be able to solve the issue until the next long-term plan in 2027.
Cave said sand had declined in the area of Wainui and Ōkitu during the last five years, while erosion had accelerated since a cyclone in 2017 and storms the following year.
“That was the end of the quiet period that we had weather-wise after Cyclone Bola.”
Temporary stairs sometimes had a drop of up to 1.8m because of sand movement, and the council would be liable if anyone were to fall, he said.
“It only takes one fool.”
One resident said the loss of the stairs affected not just Wainui locals. People used the multiple car parking spots by the stairs and now people would need to walk down the road, which had no footpath alongside it.
She felt safer walking her kids down the temporary stairs than along the road.
“I don’t think any of that has been taken into consideration.”
Waihi said the recovery budget for the rebuild was roughly $40,000, but cost estimates for the rebuild had blown beyond $100,000.
The temporary scaffolding stairs were put in to replace wooden stairs after an engineering report revealed the wooden ones were unsafe, she said.
Resident Claire Robinson said the council removed the steps while they were “absolutely stable,” and they had interrupted her ritual of morning and evening walks.
She requested the council supply the minutes of the meeting and who was involved in making the decision to remove the scaffolding stairs, which went down to the beach by “two-thirds”.
“Removed without any consultation… which obviously has upset us all,” she said.
Resident and lawyer Neil Weatherhead mentioned crowdfunding.
“You would only need 50,000 people contributing $5 to have $250,000…I think you would find, given Kiwis’ commitment to the great outdoors and recreation activities, they would think ‘bugger the Gisborne District Council’.”
When a resident asked if the council would consider giving them another temporary staircase, Frey said the council would still need resource consent for that, but was willing to explore it.
But Weatherhead said they wouldn’t need resource consent.
“You guys need to take a more robust and people-friendly approach.”
He wrote a letter to the council, saying the blocking of the accessway was “unlawful” and “done in a sneaky way”, and he took it upon himself to “dismantle” the barricade.
The council had written to him twice in November 2024, stating a permanent replacement of the steps was scheduled for early 2025, he wrote.
Frey told LDR the barrier was not unlawful, but they recognised the community’s complaints regarding obstructing the view, and it had since been removed.
“We’re working to compile the information requested by Weatherhead to provide a response to his letter.”
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
