Council acts over danger to bathers

BY DIANA WORTHY

Auckland City Council is finally taking action over exposed metal wharf piles in the sea at Onetangi after community pressure.

Moves to get rid of the piles follow injuries to two islanders last month.

The pair suffered cuts and grazes after stepping onto barnacle encrusted metal hidden under the water at Onetangi beach, opposite Charley Farley's bar and restaurant.

They have been urging Auckland City Council and Auckland Regional Council to take action ever since.

Both councils though said the problem was intermittent and only happened occasionally after shifting sands.

Auckland City Council parks officer Gary Wilton initially believed it was an issue for the regional council to deal with.

But he has since changed his mind and went down to the beach with Auckland City roading manager Reg Cuthers at low tide on Wednesday, February 3 to take a look.

Mr Wilton says the piles are the remnants of the last wharf at Onetangi, which was demolished in 1940.

He says the piles were cut off from the base at that time, leaving around 30cm protruding from the sea bed.

"It is a hazard particularly for people who might dive straight into the surf. They are directly in front of the concrete ramp that people use to walk down to the beach from Charlie Farley's.

"We've been told it's impossible to fix without calling in the big guns but, given the extreme low tide last week, Reg Cuthers and I thought we should take the opportunity to get a good look and revisit the options."

Mr Wilton says investigation showed the piles were made from metal railway tracks battered end-on into the sand.

A digger will be brought to the beach by the next big low tide at the end of this month to try and lever them out but, he says, a piling machine may be needed if the attempt fails.

It would be used to drive the piles further into the sand instead.

"You can't cut them easily as they are in the water and they are hard to pull out because there is up to 5m below the sand and only 30cm above.

"Rather than hand the problem on or put it in the too-hard basket, we're going to do what we can.

"It's a problem we've inherited and it's not easy to fix, so people will have to bear with us as we work our way through the options."

Meanwhile, regional council deputy harbour master Jim Dilley says he can only act if the poles are a navigational hazard, and he has no power to protect bathers - only vessels.

Regional council officers have visited the site but could not find the posts.

Mr Dilley now says they will investigate again if they reappear.

He says his officers will not be putting up any warning signs as people should just watch where they are treading - as they would with any other hazard, such as rocks and boulders.

Mr Wilton agrees, saying signs will not make things safe, and is urging bathers to be careful until the problem can be dealt with.

One of the injured women, Lynette Reed, says she strongly believes warning signs are necessary.

"It is not enough for the regional council to say swimmers do so at their own risk when it is fully aware of those hazards.

"The general public do not have such knowledge. Swimmers could miss seeing them in advance because of lack of translucency or because a wave or waves pushed them on to the last remains of the old wharf.

"The general public would not even be aware that there had been a wharf at Onetangi."

- Waiheke Marketplace