Hauraki Catchment Board File – Whiritoa

The Hauraki Catchment Board was established under the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act 1941 (and amendments). This Act was labelled ‘An Act to make provision for the conservation of soil resources and for the prevention of damage by erosion, and to make better provision with respect to the protection of property from damage by floods’. The first Catchment Boards were set up in 1943 and the Hauraki Catchment Board was established in 1947. The Board consisted of a maximum of 16 members, several governmental representatives from the: Ministry of Works and Development, Department of Lands and Survey, N. Z. Forest Service (after 1961), Department of Agriculture, and the majority of whom were elected from the local community. After 1958 the Farm Advisory Officers of the Department of Agriculture were transferred to the Ministry of Works and Development. Under the 1941 Act, Catchment Authorities were made responsible for flood control, drainage, soil conservation and controlling erosion. The administrative boundaries were generally catchment boundaries so that the Catchment Board's boundaries usually did not coincide with the Local County boundaries. Counties could also opt out of a Board's control, as in Coromandel where north of the Tararu and Tairua River Catchments the Act was administered by the Ministry of Works. The Water and Soil Conservation Act 1967 (and amendments), gave Catchment Authorities the dual role of regional water boards. As a result they became responsible for administering the water resources of the region. This involved the issuing of water rights for the take and discharge of water and the drawing up of water allocation plans for various users. The reform of the LA’s led to the formation of Regional Councils and as a consequence of this reform many Catchment Boards were amalgamated into wider regions where the political boundaries as opposed to catchment boundaries were used to define regions. The Hauraki Catchment Board was thus amalgamated into the Waikato Region, as was the northern part of the Coromandel Peninsula. Early file records for the northern part of the Coromandel Peninsula are contained in the files of Coromandel County and Ministry of Works Auckland (files cover the early part of the period) and later Hamilton. The file records for the southern part of the Coromandel Peninsula, south of Tararu and Tairua south to Waihi, are to be found in the Thames County records and also the Hauraki Catchment Board files. The early coastal records often refer to wharf structures, construction and maintenance as there was initially little roading present. However, with the development of roads in this area the beaches became a ready source of roading aggregate, particularly the shingle beaches of the Coromandel west coast. In 1922, a survey of the condition of the beaches used for shingle extraction indicated that many were over exploited. This resulted in a recommendation that the Marine Department close all beaches for extraction, south of a line between Long Bay (Auckland) and the Colville Channel. This effectively closed the Coromandel west coast beaches to sand extraction. The removal of sand and shingle for local use, particularly roading, continued around the Peninsula into the 1980s. Some sand was taken from the mouth of Whangapoua Harbour by dredging the ebb tide bar. This material was sold in Auckland. Similarly, sand was removed from the Maori Land block at the South end of Whiritoa Beach with the consent of the Maori Trustee. This material was also sold in Auckland. The majority of the Hauraki Catchment Board file notes centre around the problems with coastal development. Levelling dunes to create building sites was one problem, but the more controversial aspect was the width of the building set back from the high water mark (HWM). In 1984 the Hauraki Board came up with some guidelines for future developments which were superseded in a report by Environment Waikato (2002). Purpose: See data set abstract below

• 1/22/0 Shingle from water courses. Volume 2. Report starts February 1957. Associated files: Lands and Survey file 3/686 Hamilton district Office. The land settlement Board was working a license to extract shingle, however it was not specified where they would be doing the extraction. SC, RCC and L&S issued a circular in 1956/7 on the control of shingle extraction in rivers; 1. In tidal rivers or where tidal action occurs it was owned by the Crown and controlled by the Marine dept, 2. Navigable rivers (as defined in s206 of the Coal Mines Act 1925) owned by the Crown and administered by L&S, 3. Non-navigable waterways where there are fishing or road reserves owned by Crown and administered by L&S, 4. On all other water courses the shingle is owned by the adjoining landowner. • 1/22/0 Shingle from water courses. Volume 3. Report starts October 1971. In November 1971, Whiritoa Beach sand extraction had been 17,500 yd3 /yr (13,380 m3/yr) for at least 35 years, adding to a total of nearly 500,000 yd3 (382,300 m3) of material removed. The Marine Division of the Ministry of Transport (file 54/15/48). In April 1974 there was a complaint that sand removal was from outside the licence area. This is followed by a list of the volume extracted from 1971 to 1974: Date Volume yds3 Volume m3 Oct1971-May 1972 2515 1923 June 72-Sept 72 Nil - Sept 72 837 640 Oct 72 439 336 Nov 72 446 341 Dec 72 206 158 Jan 73 359 275 Feb 73 219 167 Mar 73 346 264 April 73 259 198 May 73 354 271 June 73 339 259 July 73 501 383 Aug 73 351 268 Sept 73 295 226 Oct-Nov 73 1098 840 Dec 73 408 312 Jan 74 617 472 Feb 74 538 411 Total 10,127 7,743 Excavation commenced some time in the 1950s. A table in the Maori Trustees records shows that between July 1961 to February 1974 a total of 62,950 yds3 (48,130 m3) was removed. This gives an average rate of 4,843 yds3/ yr (3702 m3/ yr). The extractor (Mr Castle) stated that the extraction rate was 17,500 yds3/ yr for the previous 35 years or a total of 612,500 yds3 (468,290 m3). There was a discrepancy on the amount that sand royalties were paid on. NWASCO (file 72/2/1/11) produced draft guidelines for shingle extraction from New Zealand rivers and coasts. Many of the small streams in the Matamata-Piako area were mined for race metal for local farms in the late 1970s and 1980s. May 1977: the Mataora Incorporation made a proposal to sell sand from Mataora Bay (Ohinemuri County file number not given). No further information at this point in time. In September 1977, Works file 7/2 mentioned reactivated sand mining at Whiritoa. The licence had expired the previous June (Works Hamilton 96/130000). Land owners terminated the contract with the Maori Trustee and issued a licence to Provincial Transport with the licence conditions the same as under the Maori Trustee. In September 1977 T.R. Healy reported on the sediments of Mataora Beach concluding that the beach and dunes were part of a closed system derived from Beeson’s Island Volcanic’s and therefore were not a sustainable resource and should not be mined. February 1978, the focus for sand mining shifts to the west coast of the Coromandel Peninsula and there are photographs of Papa Aroha, Melsops, Goat Bay and Sandy Bay (scanned and held by EW). • 1/22/0 Shingle from water courses. Volume 4. Report starts April 1978. The file commences with a report on sand mining in the Coromandel Peninsula (Works file 47/16) stating that the HCB is to phase out mining in any area suspected of being a closed system or where there is insufficient information about the resource. There are a series of applications to mine sand from the entrance of Whangamata Harbour, Tairua Harbour, Whitianga Harbour and the Katikati entrance to Tauranga Harbour. In February 1979, the Whiritoa Rate Payers Association held a meeting and formed a rate payers erosion group to oppose sand mining at Whiritoa. • 1/22/0 Shingle from water courses. Volume 6. Report starts July 1982. From late 1982 through to 1984 the Board were conducting a sand and shingle resource assessment for the whole of their region. A table of material used and the source for the previous two years is included in the report. It was noted that there had been a number of “one off” extractions approved in connection with bridge construction around the Peninsula. There is a draft copy of the Sand and Gravel Report. • 2/11/0 Eastern Catchments. Parts of Thames and Ohinemuri Counties. Volume 3. Report from January 1974 to August 1975. File contains a high angle oblique photograph of Whiritoa Beach. This is part of a document requesting that a reserve be created at the southern end of the beach to provide access to Ramarama estuary and the blow holes in the cliffs; however the Ramarama stream enters the beach at the northern end while the blowholes are at the southern end of the beach. A report on the beaches of the Coromandel Peninsula by J. G. Gibb 1973, suggested that a number of measurements should be made at Whiritoa to determine what was happening. There is no evidence that these were ever done. • 2/11/0 Eastern Catchments–Parts of Ohinemuri and Thames Counties Volume 2. Report dated 1971–1974. File contains a 19-22 June report by J.G. Gibb on the condition of Buffalo Beach, Cooks Beach, Tairua, Whiritoa and Waihi beaches together with comments on the condition of the Tairua, Wharekawa and Whangamata estuaries. The report summarises many comments from earlier work on the Coromandel coast. However, the descriptions of the beaches are important as they provide an “as is” description of the condition of the beaches at that time. • 2/11/0 Eastern Catchments–Parts of Ohinemuri and Thames Counties Volume 2. Report period January 1974 to August 1975. 9 August 1974: A.K. Attwood (MWD) wrote a summary of Ministry of Works involvement at Whiritoa Beach since 1972 (File no. 96/130000). Also a reference to file 7/377 -this could be another works file of a Maori and Island Affairs file no.

Whiritoa Beach and surrounds, to southern extent Waikato Region

1957 - 1982

Frequency of collection: Irregular

Quality variable Gaps in collection: Some gaps in data collection Data quality: Quality variable

Hard copy written files

This data is publicly available in TCDC archives. Sensitivity/Confidentiality: Not confidential - public information

Files closed

J.G. Gibb report on the state of the Coromandel Coast. Related information: These files are related to Ministry of Works and Ministry of Transport files.