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Down to the sea again
With our harbours, inlets and estuaries, New Zealand has one of the
longest coastlines in the world for a country our size. Our coastline
is 14,000 km long – about the same length as Australia’s
coastline!
With memories of long summer afternoons at the beach, sailing in the harbour,
and invigorating walks along a wild and windswept rugged coast as part of most
people’s experience, it is no wonder that we place special importance
on preserving the unique qualities of our harbours and coasts. But there are
many values that regional councils need to balance when managing them, such
as:
- recreational and amenity
- landscape and natural character
- economic
- cultural
- ecological.
Entrance to Buller Harbour
Coasts
Near our major cities much of the original character of our coast has
been modified by human activity. Reclamation and erosion protection works
such as seawalls have altered physical coastal processes and changed
the shape of the shoreline. Original native vegetation cover, landforms
and landscape have been modified or destroyed by the development
of urban areas. Dredging for sand means that the natural character of
subtidal areas has also been modified. But despite the impacts of human
activities, New Zealand has extensive coastlines that are still in their
natural state, and much of the rest still retains significant natural
character.
Coastal management involves balancing the needs of different, and often competing,
uses. Regional councils aim to safeguard the values of the coastline, coastal
waters, beaches, harbour and estuaries. To manage the nation’s harbours
and coastal resources, the councils carry out the following activities:
- regional plans – these provide a blue-print for how the people of the region expect their coastal environment to be managed. The plan sets out a framework for assessing use and development proposals
- coastal permit processing: as the coastal area is Crown-owned public land, most activities including disturbance activities and the construction of any structure in the coastal marine area (i.e. below mean high water springs) will require a coastal permit
- beachcare/coastcare and coastal education
- coastal erosion management
- compliance monitoring and enforcement
- environmental investigation and monitoring
- ecological baseline monitoring, wave and climate monitoring, coastal profile monitoring.
Harbours
As well as having an economic and functional purpose, our harbours
are also used for recreation. Swimming and boating are among the many
activities possible in harbours. It is the rules that the regional authorities,
harbourmasters and other people design, regulate, enforce and follow
that enable these potentially conflicting activities to coexist peacefully
alongside each other.
Brochures from regional councils tell of local conditions so that cargo ships
and pleasure craft, swimmers and ferries, people fishing and water skiers,
underwater divers and boats can keep their distance from each other.
Wellington Waterfront, a place for people to enjoy
