Cliffhanger
Protecting a $24m home
Cliff stabilisation and wall rebuilding has started above Herne Bay's Sentinel Beach on one of New Zealand's most expensive residential properties.
The project, on the property owned by investor Ben Cook, is to reinstate the crib wall above the beach in the country’s wealthiest suburb. Cook paid $24 million for the land in 2015, making it the year's toppriced residential sale.
Cook said he was paying for the extensive work on the cliff which extends beneath the eastern face of his property.
Yesterday morning, two barges and a motorboat arrived to continue work which began last year. Skips piled three high and heavy earthmoving equipment, including two diggers, are now at the cliff edge beside the popular north-facing beach.
“We are rebuilding a concrete crib wall which extends along the eastern face of my property, along Sentinel Beach,” Cook said. “We were conscious that a lot of people recreate on Sentinel Beach, next to the crib wall and we believed it posed a safety hazard to the public. So we decided to be proactive and apply to council for a consent to rebuild the wall.”
Helen James, project co-ordinator for Lindesay Construction, said the work was needed after ground movement late last year.
“The crib wall, which is more than 30 years old, collapsed around October due to quite heavy rain so we are securing the top property,” she said.
“We reinstated the driveway last year. Around 11 anchors, each 22m long, have been driven vertically into the cliff. They are threaded rods punched through and secured with a great big nut. We finished that just before Christmas.”
Diggers are now removing debris from the cliff and the beach. That would be placed into skips on the barges, to be taken from the site, she said. Temporary poles were driven into the seabed to moor the barges and the entire beach site is fenced off from public access for safety reasons. Pohutukawa lining the cliff face are protected, according to James.
Cook has riparian rights, meaning he owns land to the high-tide mark. That means he also owns the cliffs.
“This will take six to eight weeks, we're hoping a bit shorter,” James said.
An entirely new interlocking concrete crib walling will be built above the beach.
“The barges are required because it's the only practical way to remove the old crib wall debris from the beach area which is adjacent to the crib wall,” Cook said.
“As the wall [and the parts of Sentinel Beach adjacent to it] are on my property's title, I'm paying for the works. I don't know what they will cost . . . but the result will be a new and safe crib wall along that part of Sentinel Beach that borders my property.”