I have always loved Tāhunanui Beach. I remember making sandcastles and using the playground as a child and, three decades later, doing the same with my own children. I have walked it and swum and kayaked in its waters hundreds of times. I proposed to my wife, Linley, by writing in its sand. It is a Nelson treasure. It is right that we are investing in protecting and enhancing it.
Council last Thursday gave the green light to removing 6500 cubic metres of contaminated wood waste from the Back Beach. The dumping there in the 1960s is a sad commentary on the lack of respect then for the coastal environment. Tests last year revealed the contamination. It will take two to three months to excavate and truck the material to the York Valley landfill. The low-level dunes will then be reinstated and planted.
I am hopeful of getting Government funding for this remediation work, but Council has rightly opted to get on with the clean up before summer. The costs of temporary protection are mounting and there is the risk of a major storm spreading the contamination. We ask for the community’s tolerance during the disruption.
I was reminded of just how beautiful this beach is when at sunrise last Friday we announced the Government’s $1.6 million contribution towards the proposed new Nelson Surf Life Saving Club facility. The calm sea glistened, the tussock glowed gold and the snow on Mt Arthur provided the perfect backdrop.
I have been working with the Club for two years on this proposal. The old Club facilities on the beach were lost in the 1980s. The Club currently operates from three small buildings and four shipping containers. The benefits will be more patrols, a safer beach, expanded youth development and more water safety education.
Council committed $1.65 million last month to this project through the Long Term Plan after receiving hundreds of public submissions. The Club still has a huge fundraising job to do but this grant puts us on track for the build to start next year. The best beach in the country deserves nothing less.
