Bay of Plenty surf break study

Abstract

Surf breaks form unique areas in the natural character of the coastal environment. This study investigates criteria necessary to identify where surf breaks occur and rate their associated values in order to provide for their sustainable management under the Resource Management Act 1991. Mandate for the recognition of surf breaks within the coastal environment comes under the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010, in what is a relatively new area of resource management in the New Zealand context. The report builds on existing approaches to surf break protection through public consultation and synthesis of a well-established knowledge base on the subject. The outcome is a robust methodology for identifying regionally significant surf breaks and the outstanding components of each break. The response from community engagement was strongly in favour of continuing a positive and proactive approach to protecting surf breaks as regionally significant natural resources. Surf breaks provide for a healthy, recreational lifestyle with values that span the four wellbeings for coastal communities in the Bay of Plenty region. Respondents were generally supportive of a collaborative approach to further policy development and implementation; as opposed to relying on costly challenges to ad hoc decisions made through the consenting process. The study presents a surf break assessment criteria developed through community engagement. The key criteria used are wave quality, consistency and break type (rarity). The report identifies regionally significant surf breaks in the Bay of Plenty region and evaluates each break against the criteria described in the study. This has enabled the identification of individual components contributing to the outstanding value of each regionally significant break. The criteria can be used to assist in developing policy to manage regionally significant surf breaks.