Work to extend a rock wall at Buffalo Beach and a geotextile seawall at Brophy's Beach should get underway by late April or May.

The Thames-Coromandel District Council confirms the consent to build a rock wall extension at Buffalo Beach has come through and they are now tendering for the work.

The Thames-Coromandel District Council says coastal protection works at Buffalo and Brophy's beaches should get underway by late April/May. Photo: TCDC

But the consent for the geotextile wall at Brophy's Beach is still being processed and should be through by the end of February.

'We're looking forward to seeing the physical work start,” says Mercury Bay Community Board chair Paul Kelly. 'Brophy's Beach has been a really popular spot this summer, particularly with a floating pontoon being put in.”

The floating pontoon was built by council staff with the help of locals local builders Steve Tull, Wayne Kerney and Ethan Dagger, with advice being offered from the Mercury Bay Harbour Master.

The new wall being built at Brophy's Beach will replace the existing rock wall which will involve excavating a footing and then laying geotextile bags on top of each other to form a wall.

Sand will then be pushed over the bags and completed with some minor dune planting work.

Construction is estimated to take about six weeks and while work is underway some sections of Brophy's Beach reserve will be temporarily closed.

The rock wall extension at Buffalo Beach should also take up to six weeks to complete.

During this time locals may see a digger on either beach occasionally pushing sand up onto the beach.

The council says sand push ups, or sand scraping, is when it is moved up past the high tide mark to areas more susceptible to coastal erosion.

'At different times of the year we find a scarp (vertical drop) occurs between the beach and the land,” says the council. 'So this work is done as and when required.”

'Reasons for the work include health and safety issues [as] we want to avoid people falling or tripping off a vertical drop or scarp.

Council adds: 'There can be a long period of time before the beach will naturally regenerate, so this work is an interim measure to slow down the rate of erosion of existing land.”

To learn more about the Thames-Coromandel District Council's coastal protection works click here.