The Government is pleased to award a contract to S & T Contractors in partnership with Muri Environment Care Group (MEC) to carry out beach nourishment works at Nukupure Beach.
This is part of the Mei Te Vai Ki Te Vai project working towards protecting and enhancing the health of Muri Lagoon. Work started on Thursday 14th February and is intended to finish on Thursday 14th March 2019.
The work involves moving sand and sediment from the mouth of the Vai Te Renga Stream (just south of Muri Beach Club Hotel), and using this to build up the beach which has eroded in front of Nukupure Park (just north of the Muri Beach Club Hotel). At the same time, loose rocks removed from Nukupure Beach will be used to support the bank of the stream.
Alongside the dredging work, The Muri Environment Care Group will plant vegetation along the top of Nukupure Beach to help control erosion. The plants will provide strengthening to the top of the beach, helping to prevent erosion from waves, wind and foot traffic.
The group is modelling the plant species on what is growing at beaches where the natural vegetation is still present, including creepers, shrubs and larger trees such as the au tree.
“We are very excited to be carrying out this work and it is great timing with the dredging work that is going to happen. We had already planned our project before we knew about the dredging, so it has all worked out perfectly,” says MEC President Mii Kauvai. “We submitted our proposal to the Global Environment Fund Small Grants Programme to fund our project and we are so happy that our proposal was approved,” adds Kauvai.
“The main aim of these works is to dredge the sand near the Vai Te Renga stream, as this has environmental benefits. We are able to reuse the sand from the stream along with vegetation planting by MEC, to rebuild the eroded areas of Nukupure Park beach,” says Murray Wallis, Environmental Scientist for the PMU.
Kauvai says MEC are keen to involve the wider community: “Our next step is to call on the community to come help us plant the various vegetation. We already have a company social club keen to help and we’d like to invite the public to take part. We will be monitoring the work under MTVKTV to get an idea of the exact day planting will start and will announce that closer to the time”. MEC will be holding a public meeting to provide the full details for the project, with the date to be announced shortly.