2016-2017: No more stones for Winstone. WOW Inc continued to lobby for an end to Winstone’s mining at Awatoto which over many decades had extracted and used gravel travelling northwards from Cape Kidnappers and our rivers for developing the region. The actual amount of recovery since this manmade depletion of our coast ended is yet to be determined.

2016-2018: Clifton wall. WOW Inc, alongside the Clifton Marine Club and others supported the installation and expansion of the Clifton limestone revetment wall. 2016-2018: Grumbling about gravel. WOW Inc lobbied long and hard for beach crest restoration and maintenance to protect the gravel bund in front of lagoons and wetlands at Haumoana and other vulnerable areas of the coast. While its effort resulted in gravel able to moved from the landward side replenishment and maintenance was needed from the seaward side but this was only possible in emergencies without a change to consenting conditions. This matter remains a serious concern in 2026 as HBRC insists gravel must be imported from a secondary source which requires consent and transport costs.

2021: Cape View Corner protected. WOW Inc was greatly relieved when after years of advocacy to protect Cape View Corner Hastings District Council agree to build the Cape View Corner limestone revetment wall. This had increased protection and is so creatively done that it is now a local feature. Further protection northward is still needed.2023: Flood damage: Cyclone Gabrielle in February caused widespread devastation across Hawke’s Bay, causing significant flooding including metre high water in about 23 homes in lower Haumoana and power outages for up to a week across the region including the Cape Coast.

2022: H18 solution rudely dismissed. After two years of working with residents and owners of the H18 stretch of the most vulnerable properties at Cape View Corner in south Haumoana the plug was pulled by HBRC. The solution agreed to was a 300m long Westlock Wall, estimated at around $4m in total with HDC contributing 15% and the rest as part of a targeted rate. Among the 18 partiers involved were businesspeople who saw potential for the area to be protected and modified as an attractive asset the area. During a meeting with HBRC however they were told they most likely wouldn’t get consent and even if they did they would not be able to modify structures or build behind it. That ended any hope of two reluctant property owners engaging and saw the most influential of the partners in the project walking away in disgust. The Coastal Hazards Strategy did not include the H18 properties on the understanding that a solution was being worked out with homeowners. WOW Inc which and helped broker the deal was disgusted at HBRCs approach and attitude to this independent solution, dismissing it outright despite two years of work with property owners, HDC engineers and Westlock. The area at the centre of the coastal erosion and inundation debate for decades remains extremely vulnerable.

Dec 2023: WOW Inc publishes swansong historical summary. Saving the Cape coast:
A history of coastal protection 1931-2023 an historical record of coastal and flooding events
nd community group dealings with local authorities over many decades including WOW Inc
during its 14-years of lobbying for coastal protection. Copies are supplied to the Coastal |
Hazards committee and Technical Advisory Group (TAG) members and key councilors and
executives. The media ignores its revelations of failure and inaction, although WOW
chairman Keith Newman is asked to address the Costal Hazards committee on
17 May 2024 where he clearly expressed his concerns.
It takes up the first 20 mins of the meeting. 

 
2023: Resilience plans ramp up. In the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, WOW Inc was engaged in several significant meetings with locals in Haumoana and Te Awanga concerned about how resilient our communities were and what might be done to ensure our infrastructure and capacity to cope in further such events was more resilient. In conjunction with local authorities and local volunteers this was the beginning of a renewed Cape Coast Community Group (CCCG) which included a Resilience sub-group.

12 Sept 2023: Joint council flood protection promises. A detailed statement of key issues impacting coastal and flood protection was presented to a joint meeting of senior officials from Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) and Hastings District Council (HDC). The meeting convened by then Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst was attended by Regional Council Chair, Hinewai Ormsby, both councils' chief executives, and senior officers from HDC. It was agreed to establish a working group to address concerns around flood and coastal protection systems and to keep the community informed on progress.

September 2023: End of the line for WOW Inc. It was agreed to merge WOW Inc assets into the Cape Coast Flood Protection Group formed as a sub-group of the CCCG. The new group would continue to provide a single voice representing the Haumoana to Clifton area to meet with local authorities and to consider matters arising from the ongoing Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy. Chairperson is Roy Boonen.

2023: Coastal Hazards Strategy uncertainty. The Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy had been in a limbo with the overarching concern remaining about the high cost of an all-of-coast 100-year Strategy, who was going to pay and who was going to be responsible. None of the three councils who had been consulting with the community for over 12-years was prepared to commit to how this would be rated. The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) was seen as the best fit to take control and while this was agreed ‘in principal’, further consultation with community focus groups was required to determine if this would be put forward to the 2027 long-term plan in 2026. While those focus group meetings began once the Gabrielle recovery was well underway the Government announcement that regional councils were to be abolished or restructured placed further uncertainty around the Strategy. Key members from WOW Inc and the subsequent Cape Coast Flood Protection Group continued to attend meetings, put forward ideas and consult with HBRC and Hastings council in the hope of finding a reasonable and affordable solution. Meetings were scheduled into 2026.

August-September 2025: Ecoreef experiment. After strong lobbying
from community representatives, Hastings council agreed to fund stage
one of a Te Awanga protection project to protect the shoreline and lagoon.
coreef, a system of hexagonal reinforced interlocking concrete modules
was installed by Lattey Group along a 210-metre stretch of coast costing
round $800,000. This would protection council assets including stormwater infrastructure under threat from the sea. Some saw Ecoreef as providing wider protection in specific areas and it was potentially being considered as part of the Coastal Hazards Strategy.

2019-2025: HDC proactive stance: Hastings District Council had proactively spent more than $3 million on projects that help protect coastal communities including Clifton revetment (sea wall); Coastal reserves planting, Cape View corner protection, Waimārama sea walls (northern and southern), Pouhokio Stream outlet – rock wall repair and bolstering.