Defend or retreat...
/Eloise Gibson investigates the back and forth between locals, councils, sand and sea in Orewa. This small stretch of coastline highlights conversations happening across the country, do we defend or retreat?
When the sea rises, some of these land titles will shrink. Legally, the landward boundary won’t budge when the tide line moves in, but the seaward boundary will move inland, because it is usually defined by the high water mark. Our shrinking public land will buffer private property behind it -- until the public land’s gone.