The annual beach clean-up of woody debris is set for next week. Work will commence firstly on Waikanae Beach up to Midway Surf Club and then onto Uawa.

Council Director Liveable Communities Michèle Frey says, “Given the extra debris on the beaches this year due to the heavy rain event in March, Council’s budget for clean-up will be prioritised to the most-used sections of beach.”

Downer will be conducting the work. Ms Frey reminds beach users to ensure they keep clear of the equipment while the clean-up of beaches is underway.

Council has been tracking the weather and cyclone paths and has decided to start works on Waikanae and Midway beaches between 25-30 October with Uawa the following week.

The last time the woody debris was removed from the beaches was in December 2021. This followed an unexpected rain event, which happened only two weeks after the pre-Labour Weekend clean-up.

“We are doing our best to avoid a repeat of last year where the clean-up was achieved for Labour weekend and then a large rain event occurred that following week and the work needed to be re-done,” says Ms Frey.

“We also took into account that no events were booked on Waikanae beach until 29 October.

While we understand this may be disappointing, we hope the community understands our constraints and wanting to be as cost-effective as possible.”

Council will consider a draft woody debris policy early next year which proposes the development of a long-term approach to managing the issue of woody debris on our region’s beaches and how this will be paid for.

© Scoop Media