‘Million-dollar views but no equity’: The coastal dream being swallowed by the sea

Saturday, 6 June 2026

Jo Poland's Port Waikato home was once a five-minute walk from the sea, but coastal erosion has brought water within 10m of her deck.

A $400,000 community-built seawall at Port Waikato extends over 300m and was completed earlier this year to protect homes and the surf club.

Waikato District Council says it has no mandate or funding framework to provide buyouts or compensation for property owners affected by coastal erosion.

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The sea has already taken land, fences and homes at Port Waikato. A community-built seawall has bought time, but residents say a long-term plan is needed as erosion keeps reshaping the coast. Mildred Armah reports.

When Jo Poland finished building her Port Waikato home in 1998, the sea was still a walk away.

She had bought the coastal section four years earlier. From the deck, she could see only “little bits of the sea” through gaps in the sand dunes.

Is your property at risk of coastal erosion? Email mildred.armah@stuffdigital.co.nz

“The sand dunes were huge,” Poland told Stuff. “It took five or 10 minutes to walk across them. You’d go down, out of my section and up a hill, and then up and down a couple of times before you got there.”

Now, the sea is about 10m from her seaward side deck.

From her living room, the ocean fills the view. On her fridge, Poland, 73, keeps a calendar marking very high tides - the days she watches the sea - fearing more of her land will go with it.

“My front fence has had to be demolished because it would have fallen onto the beach otherwise,” she said. “There used to be about 30m or more in front of that, not long ago.

“I tell people I’ve got million-dollar views, but no equity.”

Port Waikato has been hit by rapid coastal erosion, affecting public infrastructure, car parks and homes closest to the coast.

When visiting, Stuff observed that some coastline properties had been shifted, partly demolished or removed. Others were still occupied, while some were on the market or appeared to have sold recently.

Residents say the seawall has bought them time, but not certainty. With no council compensation framework for coastal erosion and a National Adaptation Framework still being developed, homeowners say the long-term risk remains theirs to carry.

Poland can hear the hammering from nearby properties being pulled down.

“I’ll be out in the office working, and you hear hammering; and it’s not the hammering of something positive happening, it’s a house being demolished. It’s an ending and it’s really sad,” Poland said through tears.

“It’s not just the house going, it’s someone’s hopes and dreams.”

The $400,000 seawall, completed earlier this year, runs more than 300m along the coast. The seawall project was led by the Sunset Beach Surf Lifesaving Trust, with community support, to stabilise the shoreline and reduce further land loss.

Trust chair Malcolm Beattie said the wall had saved the surf club, community hub, nearby homes and what remained of the carpark.

The original plan was to protect the carpark and surf club, but Beattie said the wall was extended from about 120m to more than 300m when it became clear that homes along the front also needed protection.

“We actually took on the responsibility of the council by saving those houses,” he said.

Beattie said the wall was never presented as a permanent fix, but it could last up to 15 years, possibly longer. Sand was already starting to build back in places.

Poland said the seawall and “sand push-ups” had helped, and believed she would no longer be in her home without them. But she wanted the time it had bought to be used for a longer-term plan, particularly for residents left carrying erosion risk without insurance cover.

The house was meant to be Poland’s retirement plan, but she said erosion had eaten into the equity she expected to rely on. She is still working full-time and has tried to make the garage, which is further inland, liveable in case she had to move out of the main home.

“I don’t get covered by EQC or private insurance,” Poland said. “I’m 73, it’s not like I’m going to have endless money to even pay for a demolition.”

The gap Poland describes was also identified in a 2024 WSP and Helen Clark Foundation report which warned, climate change could lead to “insurance retreat” from some properties, including those affected by coastal erosion. It called for a clearer adaptation and funding framework so communities facing rising risk had a pathway for support.

Nearby resident Sheryl Martin said erosion had also taken part of her property.

Martin, a pensioner, said the “sand push-ups” had helped slow the erosion, but residents still needed a longer-term response.

“Council or Government needs to do some sort of plan because it’s happening in different west coast areas.”

Waikato District Council said it had no mandate or funding framework to provide buyouts, compensation or financial assistance to individual property owners affected by natural hazards or climate risk, including coastal erosion.

It said rates were based on a property’s capital value, and if a house was demolished or removed, the rates would be reassessed to reflect that.

“There are complex questions about how the costs of long-term natural hazard risk should be the responsibility of individuals or funded by community, ratepayers. This is a conversation we need to have locally, and it is something that needs to be considered nationally,” said Will Gauntlett, general manager strategy and growth.

Gauntlett said council was aware the community was being affected by natural hazards and climate risk, but it was difficult to decide what was fair for ratepayers to fund when individual property owners were affected.

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said the Government had put in place a National Adaptation Framework to help New Zealand prepare for climate change impacts.

He said the framework included work on roles, responsibilities and cost-sharing, and legislation would require councils in high-priority risk locations to create adaptation plans.

Asked what support was available for homeowners threatened by coastal erosion but not covered by insurance, Watts said communities were dealing with “real uncertainty”, but councils had a leading role.

Port Waikato MP Andrew Bayly said there was a strong case for targeted support where homes were affected by natural hazards beyond owners’ control.

However, he said it would be unreasonable to expect local or central government to fully fund compensation in all cases, particularly when properties were knowingly developed or bought in areas renowned to be at risk of erosion.

But Poland said climate change had altered the scale and speed of the risk facing coastal communities.

“We weren’t close to the sea when it started. We were a long way away. I had geologist reports that only talked about the risk of erosion from the wind, not from the sea or from climate change… it just wasn’t thought of as a possibility back then.”

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