Shoreline Management Plansdeveloping resilient coastal communities

in the Thames-Coromandel District

From the fisher’s paradise of the Firth of Thames to the golden sands of the open ocean beaches facing the Pacific Ocean, our Thames-Coromandel district is renowned for its iconic and diverse array of coastal environments. It’s a coastline that provides many lifestyle benefits for our usual resident population of around 28,000 people and in the peak visitor months between October and April the population can swell to four or five times that number with the arrival of many holiday home owners and visitors.

Figure 1 Erosion of Thames Coast Road (SH25) at Whakatete Bay

SHORELINE MANAGEMENT PLANS

LIVING IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENTBut coastal living here, just like many other parts of New Zealand, involves being prepared for those same processes that shape our coastal environment to constantly shift, occasionally offering up ‘surprise events’. Those surprises arrive in the form of natural hazards like coastal erosion, inundation and tsunami - threatening the things we value about our coast.

In January 2018, a storm caused major flooding and damage to homes, properties and infrastructure along the Thames coast.

Natural hazards like this challenge our way of living but are part and parcel of living, working and playing on the coast. They present coastal management issues that are complex, unique and often ambiguous. Our coasts and communities are constantly changing too. Ensuring our resilience in these changing environments requires us to understand their characteristics, risks, opportunities, and solutions that are best matched to each. Figure 2 Flooding at Tatahi St, Te Puru

Following on from the adoption of our Coastal Management Strategy and Coastal Hazards Policy in 2018, we are now developing Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs). The development of SMPs provides an opportunity to examine the interaction between the way in which the coast behaves and is likely to evolve, and the way in which the coast is used and valued. Each SMP will:• be specific to a stretch of coast• identify what’s at stake and why• consider a number of different future scenarios of how

coasts and communities may change• set objectives for the management of the coastal

environment • be action-oriented, and clearly link the actions of today

with those we might need to take in the future • work through viable solutions • then plot a course to get us there, making sure we use

our collective knowledge and observations of the coast to keep track of our progress and enable a change of course if necessary.

To give our SMPs strength, we will link them to plans and policies others are responsible for - like the Waikato Regional Policy Statement: Te Tauākī Kaupapahere Te-Rohe O Waikato - or plans central government agencies, like

the New Zealand Transport Agency or the Department of Conservation, may have for their areas of interest. We must also work with neighbouring councils, particularly in areas like the Firth of Thames and other shared spaces.

We will also ensure that our own operations, plans and strategies (like the District Plan) are informed by the way we want to manage our coast.

All of our coastal communities will be relied upon to tell us their coastal stories, pass on their knowledge of coastal environments, engage in discussions and work through solutions. We will work with communities at the grassroots level to inform, be informed by and collaborate in identifying objectives, issues and solutions.

In recognising the coastal environment as taonga, we will work directly with mana whenua to ensure that SMPs reflect their objectives.

Over the next three years, with your advice and recommendations, we will produce SMPs that cover the entire Thames-Coromandel coast. This is your coast. We hope that by striving together to create resilient coastal environments we will ensure thriving coastal communities long into the future.

MORE INFO HERE: www.tcdc.govt.nz/cms

Or contact us via email at ourcoast@tcdc.govt.nz