Ministry of Works Files – Whangapoua / Matarangi

The Ministry of Works and Development was the principal organisation carrying out the physical, engineering and environmental investigations for many government departments before it was disbanded in the 1980s. Consequently, the Ministry of Works files contain a wealth of environmental information about the condition of our harbours, coastlines and waterways, both as they were originally, and as they were modified during settlement. To fully understand these files they need to be read in conjunction with information from other Government Organisations, in order to place the investigations into context. For example the development of the West Coast mobile sand dune problems and the subsequent attempts to stabilise them needs to be studied in conjunction with the Maori Affairs Department and the Department of Lands and Survey files. Both of these departments were involved in financing sand stabilisation projects. Eventually the work of sand dune conservation, (formerly done by the Agriculture Department and then by the Ministry of Works Soil Conservators (Water and Soil Division) after 1958), was passed on to the New Zealand Forest Service; who took control of nearly all exotic forest planting and management together with some erosion control functions where pine forests were involved. From 1958 onwards the Ministry of Works Water and Soil Division was the service provider for NWASCA (National Water and Soil Conservation Authority) and SC&RCC (Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council), which authorised the funding for the many soil conservation activities throughout the country. All projects submitted for funding to the Authority by the various Catchment Authorities were examined by members of the Ministry of Works Water and Soil Division to ensure they were soundly based, before funding was approved. Thus, as the adviser to other government departments and NWASCA, the Ministry of Works played a pivotal role in land development and conservation throughout its existence. These files as a result contain a wealth of historical information about; land development, flood control schemes and soil conservation in New Zealand. Because of their extensive engineering knowledge, the Ministry of Works and Development (MWD) reviewed various engineering structures such as wharf construction, reclamations and coastal aggregate mining licenses for the Marine Department and later the Ministry of Transport. Purpose: See data set abstract below.

7/1 Harbour and Marine Works Annual Reports 1931-1945. January 1932: Rice grass Spartina Townsendii. A brief summary of discovery and its uses. Notes on planting or sowing seed. Lists experts who understand the plant. It was considered that the plant could never become a problem because of its agricultural value for grazing and hay making. The report was compiled by Mr. W. H. Hayes, Glen Eden Auckland. One resident proposed to reclaim 294 acres of mud flats in Manaia Harbour using Spartina. Notes reference .Allen, H.H., 1929. Journal of Agriculture. Vol. XXXIX No.5. This article describes the growth pattern of Spartina planted in the Manawatu estuary. This is one of three reports on the plant. 7/1 Harbour and Marine Works Annual Reports 1946-1969. June 10 1960: The effect of the tsunami on the eastern side of the peninsula. Ohinemuri County said that the waves were similar to a high spring tide and a dead low over a short period. Thames County residents of Whangamata were evacuated in the afternoon but no damage was caused by the abnormal tidal action in Whangamata Harbour. November 1962 Plans: (a) Thames Valley Electric Power Board proposed an 11,000kv power line Plan No. 1532C. The plan shows the position of the power poles and the depth of water at high water at each pole. Also locates the High Water Mark in Whangapoua Harbour. 7/2 Harbour and Marine Works: Removal of sand Coromandel Peninsula. 1958-1970 In the 1950s the Lands and Survey Department was responsible for all Crown land and this included river and stream beds. Ministry of Works and the local County Councils often used shingle from local streams for roading material. To simplify licensing these activities and Lands and Survey issued a blanket licence to Ministry of works to take shingle from all rivers and Streams. The Ministry of Works then issued permits to the County Councils and sent in a quarterly return to the Lands and Survey Department. Much of the contents of this file contains these returns from the different areas of the Coromandel Peninsula and the collated summaries sent to the Lands and Survey Department. August 1951: There several memos referring to illegal taking of sand and shingle from beaches. Associated files Paeroa 24/256, SH39/1/1 and SH72/25/2C/6 also Paeroa 24/1256 October to December 1960. September 1963: Winstones Ltd Applied to renew their seven year licence to take sand from two areas near the harbour entrance and a further site within Whangapoua Harbour. October 1965: Winstones (Auckland Water Transport Limited) provided a sketch map of where they wanted to remove sand in Whangapoua harbour entrance. Sketch map of proposed sand removal sites Whangapoua Harbour entrance is included on file. Advertisements in local papers brought a number of objections. January 1966: Sand removal was approved at Whangapoua as per plan. However locals were objecting to sand being taken from above high water. There is no information as to which persons or firms were involved. March 1967: Application to take sand from Whangapoua Harbour for sand blasting in Whangarei. The resident engineer from Paeroa thought that approval would be unwise, but the Hamilton Office thought it would be acceptable. April 1967: The resident engineer then comments that he thought that the application to mine at Whangapoua was too close to the shoreline and that extraction may destabilise the adjacent beach and harbour entrance. 7/2 Harbour and Marine Works: Removal of sand Coromandel Peninsula. Volume II 1970-1974. Note: This file contains 3 monthly returns of material taken from beaches and streams in the Coromandel Peninsula and sent to the Lands and Survey Department who was responsible for Crown Land. This summary does not include these returns and anyone wanting to know where and when material was taken will need to consult these files at Archives NZ. March 1971: Rope Shipping Ltd. were given a permit to remove 3,000 yds3 (2,300 m3) of sand from Whangapoua Harbour. There was also an application to take 1,500 yds3 (1,150 m3) from Tairua Harbour. It was suggested that taking sand from near Grahams Creek could mitigate flooding. This application was referred to the County for comment. October 1971: Coromandel County applied for permits to take material from a number of beaches and streams, specifically Papa Aroha Creek, Goat Bay, Whangarahi Stream, Okahutahi Stream (Sandy Bay), and the Urarimu Stream at Melsops Crossing. A total of 9,760 yds3 (7,562 m3) of material was applied for. At the same time Parry Brothers Ltd applied for 3,000 yds3 (2,294 m3) from the entrance to Whangapoua Harbour and a resident from Whitianga applied for 500 yds3 (382 m3) from Kuaotunu beach. March 1974: An application was received to extract sand from the Pungapunga River, Whangapoua for builders mix and plastering. The application was declined on the grounds that there was insufficient sand in the sand bank at the mouth of the stream, therefore any extraction could lead to erosion of the adjacent shoreline. 7/2 Harbour and Marine Works: Removal of sand Coromandel Peninsula. Volume III 1974-1976. May 1974: The Lands and Survey Department lost control of sand mining in rivers and beaches to the Mines Department. Control of sand removal now came under the Mines Act 1970. Ministry of Works now told that would have to apply to the Mines Department for a blanket approval to take sand and shingle from the catchments of the Peninsula. This was a continuation of the system run by the Lands and Survey Department. Ministry of Works then issued permits to remove material to local bodies and contractors. May 1974: Ministry of Works were told by the Mines Department that shingle removal from streams etc. was better dealt with under the Lands Act 1948 and that the Lands and Survey should control such licences. December 1976: The Resident Engineer at Paeroa asks for directions at to what is to happen to the sand mining sites at Kuaotunu and Whangapoua. At this stage it is becoming more difficult to obtain sand mining licences due to an increasing number of complaints about the methods of extraction and the amounts that are taken. 7/2 Harbour and Marine Works: Removal of sand Coromandel Peninsula. Volume IV 1977–1981. February 1977: The Ministry of Transport instigated a requirement that the local Catchment Authority would have to be involved in approval of any sand mining operations. Feb 1977: Parry Brothers extraction at Whangapoua was approved. Ministry of Transport now instituted a system of delivery dockets so that the number and size of loads was recorded and open to official inspection. August 1978: The resident engineer Paeroa sends a letter to Hamilton District Office indicating that the Hahei storm damage might indicate erosion of a similar magnitude occurred at least twice in the past. He notes that the first concern about Buffalo Beach was expressed in 1924 but the first real erosion took place in 1960. He also noted the traffic ramp at Bowentown was uncovered by the 1978 storms. The Thames Valley Gazette summarised Mr Harris's report on the damaged beaches of the east coast Coromandel Peninsula. Present sand miners were warned that all applications would be reviewed downwards and after a year were likely to be terminated. June 1977: Ministry of Transport asked the Ministry of Works if there were any other beaches that were suitable for mining out of the public eye. March 1978: The Hauraki Catchment Board and Ministry of Works agree to work together on matters of coastal sand extraction. June 1978: The Thames Valley Gazette ran an article that reviewed present sand mining permits. Included was a report by R.W. Harris, on "Sand and Shingle Extraction from Coromandel Beaches and its Relation to Coastal Erosion" The report concludes that the existing licences should be declined. March 1980: Kuaotunu was still being mined but at reduced volumes. Similarly Whangapoua was also operating but taking less material. A report by the resident engineer in Paeroa noted that many of the eastern Coromandel beaches were in a depleted state but did not think that this was a result of sand extraction. April 1980: The Hauraki Catchment Board sent out a notice that sand mining at Kuaotunu and Whangapoua was likely to be declined before the licence expired. 7/21 Harbour and Marine Works: Buffalo Beach Whitianga. 1924-1979 June 19-22 1973: Jeremy Gibb visited the Coromandel beaches with a view to assessing their present condition and to make recommendations for management. He was also to inspect Buffalo Beach erosion problems and report on a solution. Report made available August 1973: Mr Gibb considered the development of the Omaru Spit (Matarangi) as unwise and compared it with Ohiwa. 12/1 Harbours and foreshores: Harbour and river works general 1926-1937: July 1930: Regulations for the reclamation of mudflats for agricultural and pastoral purposes passed and gazette May 1930. 12/243/1 Harbours and Foreshores: Beach sand and shingle supplies, Auckland and Coromandel Areas. File starts 1950 (available for download from Ministry of Works Whiritoa dataset). This file contains the Rabone Report (Beach sand and shingle supplies, Auckland and Coromandel Areas, Special Report November 1950) which described individual beaches and their suitability for supplying sand of shingle aggregate for industrial purposes to Auckland City and some of the supporting investigation information. Much of the file is on the Auckland and Northland region with a later section on Coromandel Beaches. The coverage reflects the reduction in importance of the Coromandel area as a source of industrial sand and shingle for the Auckland area. The file also contains the photos and negatives used in the report. There are also notes on meetings held with sand merchants, land owners, and regulatory authorities. Note: Marine Department file M4/1965 contains a request for a copy of Rabone's study. It is reported here that the Marine Department supplied copies of the 1911, 1923 and 1924 reports as background information for the Rabone report. The Rabone (1950) report contains a number of recommendations for the Coromandel, including: •Whangapoua Beach: This beach had become a popular camping beach with pasture behind the barrier. There was a permit to mine this beach but it is not clear if this permit had ever been used. Rabone (1950) recommended closure to mining because of the recreational value of the area. •Omaro Spit (Matarangi): This section of coast was regarded as a most useful deposit. It was estimated that up to 50,000 yds3 could be removed annually. The photo accompanying this report shows a sand dredge in the entrance channel of the (Whangapoua) Harbour. Following the Rabone report the Engineer in Chief recommended that all beaches on the east coast of Auckland Province be closed to mining. This created strong opposition from the sand mining interests and construction industry in Auckland. A petition was sent to parliament complaining about the beach closures and Mr Sheat (MP) went on a tour of the Firth of Thames and along the east coast of the Northland Peninsula. As a result Mr Sheat came back with the recommendation that that the sand could be removed from Pakiri, Mangawhai Heads and the Waipu River mouth as was being done in 1952, and recommended by Rabone (1950). There was no comment about Coromandel beaches at this time. File 12/243 contains a report dated 1958 which suggests the recommendations by Rabone to close all beaches was too harsh and though sand mining had not stopped after the 1950 report, this report recommended that mining to continue. During the 1960s there were a number of applications to take sand from offshore islands or other remote areas such as the Kaipara Harbour, which had been regarded as uneconomical while the east coast beaches could be mined. File 6/138 Coromandel Wharf. File commences in 1944. (Associated files Works (Paeroa) 7/8 Marine Dept 13/881). The file also contains references to roading files dealing with Highway 309 and the Whangapoua to Owera route (PW 22/154 and PW15/2 (Auckland)). 47/16 Whangapoua Harbour Rope Shipping applied to take 3,000 yds3 (2,300 m3) sand from two locations near the entrance to Whangapoua harbour. This was approved in March 1971. File 74/30/28 Part 1. Coastal erosion surveys, and File 74/30/28 (pt 1). Coastal Erosion Surveys. Both files commences in 1974. Note: these files are nearly duplicates of each other and contain much of the same information. Report covers period 1974 to 1983. BOPCC file 21/4. The file notes the existence of the Bay of Plenty Coastal Erosion Survey (1977) and the Coromandel Coastal Survey (1981). The storms of July 1978 appear to have started a review of protection works around the coast. The list includes; Kawhia 1953, Ohope 1954 (Tropical cyclone) Maketu Domain 1965, Waihi Beach 1968 Ohiwa 1969 Whitianga Esplanade 1969 Whangamata 1970, Kawhia 1970, Whitianga 1970, Waihi Beach 1971, Ohiwa 1972, Aotea 1972, Whitianga 1972, Ohope 1973, Miranda 1975, Waihi 1975, Kawhia community shore 1975, Waihi estuary 1977, Marakopa estuary 1974. A cutting from the Thames Valley Gazette is contained in file. At Matarangi there was minor erosion at the eastern end but no investigation further west. Whangapoua beach was scarped the full length. There are no comments on the condition of the beaches further north than Whangapoua. File 74/30/5/1/1 (pt 2). Hauraki Catchment Board Hydrology; Operational surveys PW1/45 Coromandel County- Coromandel–Whangapoua 1918-1929 Nothing relating to the coastal environment.

Whangapoua Harbour, Whangapoua and Matarangi Beaches

1931-1981

Summary collected from physical files held by NZ archives

Some photos, reports and maps scanned and stored at Waikato Regional Council.