Coastal wall underway at Freese Park

Construction of a seawall designed to halt the erosion of land in Ōmāpere, which includes Freese Park, began last week and is expected to take four months to complete.

At approximately 120 metres long, the new structure will ensure an entire section of the beach is protected by filling a gap between two existing seawalls. Installing beach access and landscaping are also part of the project.

Without intervention, council assets including a wastewater pipeline, public playground, toilets, and a carpark are in danger of being claimed by the Hokianga Habour. Coastal erosion has already removed over nine metres of land in the past decade.

A blessing by kaitiaki from Ngāti Korokoro for the project, was held on Friday 24 February and was attended by local hapū representatives, contractors and Far North Holdings, which is managing the build.

As well as the council owned Freese Park Reserve, the sea wall will protect privately owned land at 7 Freese Park Road and 308 Hokianga Drive. Following negotiations, these property owners have agreed to make financial contributions to the project. This was necessary as the council cannot fund structures to protect private property.

The seawall will consist of large boulders placed on geo-technical fabric designed to stop earth from being washed into the ocean.

The council consulted with the community in 2021 on options to protect Freese Park. Options presented included different types of sea wall, as well as ‘managed retreat’ (planting to encourage dune stabilisation to slow erosion) or of doing nothing. While cheaper, the options of 'managed retreat' and 'doing nothing' would have required the eventual relocation of at-risk council infrastructure, which would have incurred their own costs.

High tides will influence the June completion timeframe of the sea wall, as will weather conditions.

Image below – detailed plans of the coastal protection seawall currently underway.