Joint effort in place to keep surfers out of water
Concerned locals have joined forces to prevent surfers using a popular Ahipara beach during alert level 3 restrictions.
Following Northland’s drop from level 4 to 3 Thursday night, Takiwa and Te Rarawa iwi, together with Ahipara Board Riders Club and police, have set up a border control to restrict access to the famous Te Kohanga/Shipwreck Bay.
About 30 volunteers have enrolled to man the daily checkpoint at the Pariki end of the beach, where they will patrol from sunrise to sundown (or three hours either side of low tide).
Similar to Taitokerau Border Control’s approach to travellers heading north, anyone attempting to enter the site will be required to provide proof of address.
People travelling from beyond Kaitaia will be denied access and if they are local, will need to scan their QR code and sanitise.
Ahipara Board Riders Club president Dan Bird said Ahipara was a popular beach among surfers, so it was important to ensure people from around the motu weren’t putting locals at risk.
“Ahipara is famous for having a good swell and we know there’s going to be a big swell next week,” Bird said.
“That’s why we wanted to get the message out now to prevent people travelling here over the weekend.
“Last year local iwi blocked all surfing at the beach so this year we wanted to work with them to come to some kind of agreement.
“We put forward a proposal to work together to patrol the beach and the response from local residents to support the initiative has been really encouraging.”
Locals will still be allowed to walk along the beach and permitted surfers will be able to traverse the rocks at the bottom of Pariki to get to the Waimahutahuta and Marikena side.
Te Kohanga Trust spokesperson Tui Te Paa said it was imperative to stress the importance of non-essential travel during this time.
“From an iwi perspective, it’s very important to us to minimise the risk of people coming into our bubble in order to protect our kaumatua and community as a whole,” Te Paa said.