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It took two years since the last big storm for erosion protection measures to be put in place at Maraetai Beach - and just a couple of weeks later nature has struck again.
A storm hit Maraetai in August 2008 resulting in considerable damage to an already eroding foreshore and carpark area.
Since then there has been lengthy debate as how best to protect the narrow foreshore area.
Five weeks ago work started on the agreed solution - a low wooden retaining wall and a trial dune planting area.
Last weekend the storm conditions were back and have left long time Maraetai residents wondering whether these latest measures will be effective.
The wild conditions picked up long heavy hardwood beams as if they were match sticks, tearing them from the submerged sea wall into which they were attached.
The spring tides, backed by easterly winds, spilled over on to sections of the parking area, roadway, and new concrete footpath leaving deposits of sand, shell and debris.
Half the sand dune, planted only the weekend before, was washed away.
Maraetai resident Geoff Bignell has been a long time critic of what he believes is an inadequate response to the erosion problem.
"It gives us no pleasure as long term residents to say to the council, ‘we told you so'," says Geoff.
"How many storms will it take for parts of the walkway to be eroded and broken up?
"Maraetai never had a dune before. The previous week it got one, complete with a planting of a species of a native rush and a native grass. Now it is half a dune thanks to the savagery of the elements."
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