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Melody sales@mangawhaifocus.co.nz 021454814
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Letters to the Editor

 

Rates hypocrisy?
John Robertson shared some excerpts from his report to the minister in your June 8 issue. I had thought he would probably exercise some care when spinning a line to the minister, but it seems that everyone gets spin from John, without fear or favour.

At the end, he discloses a couple of things that ought to be noted by everyone who reads this stuff. Simply because he can spend as much ratepayer money as he chooses without having to account to anyone for it, he has spent five times as much on litigation as the MRRA has. That suggests that he is either criminally negligent with ratepayer money, or he had something very very ugly to hide. Or both. He goes on to implore the community to rise up in a towering rage and stop the MRRA from completing its appeal against some aspects of the 2014 High Court judgment.

Why is he doing this? It can’t be because of the cost, because he simply does not care about the cost, and never did. So, there must be another reason, and I need to spell it out. He knows, because he has legal advice to that effect, that some aspects of that High Court judgment are going to get overturned on appeal, and he knows that if that happens the sky falls on him.

It should be obvious to anyone that if KDC were confident that this appeal would fail, they would be pushing as hard as they could for it to go ahead, because it would remove forever any doubt in anyone’s mind that councils can set rates to recover illegal debts. It would also remove any doubt at all about the scope and effect of the Kaipara Validation Act, which Parliament thought (and specifically said) it was creating in order to remove administrative errors, but which the council and the High Court decided went far beyond that and removed every error the council had ever made.

No mention in his article about the fact that he has pursued hundreds of law-abiding ratepayers through the courts using huge amounts of ratepayer money to do so. Apparently it is OK for KDC to litigate whenever it suits them, but not for anyone else. Whiff of hypocrisy John?

Bruce Rogan
Mangawhai



Role of mangroves ignored
Driving through Mangawhai one cannot miss the morass of mud caused by the destruction of the mangroves.

Mangroves have been found to provide one of the most effective carbon sinks and 'celebrated as one of the most productive ecosystems on the planet'. Twenty-first Century researchers say that the strongest advice of all would be to invest in preventing mangrove loss, or even restoration.

Mangrove density has increased over the decades in proportion to sediment and nutrient run-off caused by lackadaisical land management practices throughout the catchment.

Whatever the ostensible objectives of mangrove destruction are, they are simply not achievable – certainly not until the causes of sedimentation and nutrification are addressed. When I have lamented the destruction of these ecosystems to graduate researchers they laugh and say ‘Don't worry, there is no way they can get rid of mangroves, they will come back.’

We are locked into sea level rise of an undetermined level due the effectiveness of dirty industry funding campaigns of (in their own words) 'thought leadership' and 'opinion leadership' in the minds of the public and policy makers either directly or through third parties.

Sea level rise will increase sedimentation as the sea moves further inland to expose fresh surfaces to the effects of erosion.

Salt marshes and coastal vegetation including mangroves will move further inland on the leading edge of the rising sea.

Sea level rise cannot be stopped but we can reduce the coastal erosion by allowing coastal and inter-tidal plants to trap sediment and diffuse wave action on the coastlines within estuaries as the sea rises.

Mangrove destruction has exposed low lying coastal land to increased erosion due to wave action, particularly reclaimed coastal swamp and soft sand and clay banks and cliffs. Solid structures such as the causeways are now more exposed to the effects of wave action.

The advantages of water views and harbour access will soon be overridden by coastal erosion, particularly in a time of climate change with more frequent and intense storms, storm surges, flooding and sea level rise. Mangroves are your best form of protection as solid coastal structures such as sea walls are very expensive and ineffective as they become undermined and collapse due to the action of turbulent water.

Mangroves buffer land adjoining estuaries by absorbing and dissipating the force of waves. We easily understand the role of sand dunes protecting the land behind them from being eroded by wave action so it is a small step to understand that mangroves have a similar role but use a different method of dissipating wave energy.

Removing mangroves causes protective reed beds to break off in clumps and wash away exposing raw earth to erosion.

Mangroves trap sediments and their roots support steep deep channel banks. Farmers over the centuries found that narrow deep drains are more effective than flat broad drains due to the physics of hydro dynamics. Estuaries will drain tidal and flood waters more effectively with deep narrow channels supported by the extensive root systems of mangroves.

The reduced sediment and reduced wave action provided by mangroves allows shore birds that require clear visibility to locate prey in estuarine waters and increase populations of small and juvenile fish, shellfish and worms that form the base of marine food chains that we too feed from.

I suggest that residents of Mangawhai question the motives of the people behind this fad for mangrove clearance. My guess it has more to do with property values than concern for the health and wellbeing of the estuary and it's inhabitants.

The green and golden leaves of mangroves that compliment blue sky and sea, with birds darting in and out of their canopies, are much more pleasing to the eye than a morass of mud.

David Lourie
Waipu



Mangrove removal applauded
I have been associated with and known Mangawhai Harbour for some 80 years. My parents came to Mangawhai in 1934 and I was born the following year. We had a farm on the southern shore of the harbour. The farm at that time went from where Raymond Bull Road goes down to the harbour, included most of Tern Point and all the sand hills in what is now Kaipara north to the harbour entrance.

In my early days there were no mangroves to be seen excepting for a few which had been planted in the creek that passes under Black Swamp Road about 300 metres from Tomarata Road. We enjoyed sandy beaches and great safe swimming from The Anchor up to the bridge where the harbour passes under Tomarata Road. The old bridge was a favourite fishing spot for the late Freda Matthews among others.

Aerial photos taken after WW2 confirm the almost total absence of mangroves. There is little doubt that the post WW2 land development by the NZ Government and others saw enhanced soil and fertiliser run-off in to the harbour. However what enabled mangroves to get a foothold in the harbour was the causeway system which provided sheltered waters that enabled the seeds to take root and also protected the young plant in its early days. One could say that from 1960 to 2015 mangroves expanded at such a rate that nearly 30 percent of the harbour bed became contaminated with the result that sand turned to an anaerobic and foul smelling mud, which so far as I can tell has only been of benefit to rats and like vermin.

I now live above the harbour and can see the work being undertaken to cut out mangroves. What a joy it is to see the harbour water open from the school to Black Swamp Road. The wading birds come and go and obviously enjoy feeding where mangroves used to be in the area east of the Insley/Tomarata Road causeway.

We applaud the work being undertaken by Mangawhai Harbour Restoration Society. What has been done so far is fully in accord with the Society’s name. Congratulations to the team led by Trevor Downey and the supervision work undertaken by Andre and Robin La Bonte. The La Bonte knowledge and expertise has undoubtedly been critical in ensuring that work has been carried out in accord with the resource consent.

Contractor Dave Smith and his team also need to be complimented. This job is undoubtedly outside his previous area of expertise, but from our perch we have seen how he adapted from the beginning with a few tools and working with the barge that had problems and later proved not to be the ideal vehicle to remove debris. Dave thought outside the square and tried a number of inactive ideas. The arrival of his 20 tonne caterpillar-tracked tip truck made a huge difference and from then work progressed quite rapidly.

Work has now begun on the “Sand Island” mangroves. When this is completed the harbour will be in a far better state than in recent years and this is to the benefit of all people who live in or near Mangawhai. The major benefit to land owners will be that values can only improve. This will not be due to inflation and demand alone, but also because the harbour will have become more attractive. After all, “OUR HARBOUR’S HEALTH IS MANGAWHAI’S WEALTH.”

John Bull
Mangawhai

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