We need our stairway to heaven to be fixed
A former manager of Egmont National Park is among the many voices calling for the re-think of a decision not to replace steps at a popular New Plymouth beach.
New Plymouth District Council recently opted not to replace the steps down to Back Beach from behind Paritutu Rock because of the cost – $150,000 and no guarantee the steps would last in the elements.
The decision significantly reduced the ease of access to the beach and forced people to walk up and down a sand chute if they wanted to continue to use the beach at that point.
In a statement on Friday, infrastructure manager David Langford said the issue could be revisited at the next Annual Plan but former Department of Conservation ranger Herb Spannagl said the council should build the stairs and accept the fact the last 10 metres of the steps would be affected by the tide.
Spannagl said the council should be prepared to replace that part of the stairway every five years.
‘‘There are ways and means of doing things that don’t cost the earth.’’
Tracks in the sand shute beside where the stairs used to run indicated that many people were still accessing the beach there. The heavy use of the sand chute was also the ultimate irony to Spannagl.
‘‘The original decision of putting the steps in was to make it easier to discourage people from using the sand chute,’’ he said.
Langford said there was careful consideration before the decision was made.
‘‘We have limited budgets and work hard to prioritise work programmes that benefit all of our 80,000 residents.
‘‘It’s great to see that so many residents are passionate about Back Beach but the safety of everyone comes first.’’
There are other ways down to the beach – the sand chute takes about 10 seconds to run down but five minutes to get back up.
Walking to the beach from carpark beside the Herekawe Stream takes about 13 minutes, while access is also possible using one of the ‘bush tracks’ down the side of the cliffs.