Rocky stopbanks built as flood protection for the Thames township will be given much needed attention with work beginning the week after Easter weekend.

In recent years the rocky protection beneath the Underfoot Gallery has become destabilised in places, with some parts of the stopbank having no layers of rock separating the soil from the sea.

Thames-Coromandel District Council parks contract manager Derek Thompson showing the exposed soil where the last of the rocks had been eroded. Photo: TCDC

Parks contract manager Derek Thompson says environmentally, now is the best time to carry out the work.

'The erosion has reached as far into Thames township's protective barrier as is acceptable and we want to act while it's still a relatively simple solution,” he says.

'Economically too, any delay would damage the walkways as well as the stopbank and make future attempts to rearmour that stretch of coastline much more expensive.”

Work is set to start the week following Easter weekend and is expected to take up to three weeks, subject to weather.

Local contractors will carefully cover the artwork on the Underfoot Gallery, placing protection over it so trucks carrying the rocks can drive over the footpath area.

Rock will be stockpiled at the end of Albert Street in the turnaround area, while new rock will be transported down the protected footpath to the placement sites.

The existing rock will be temporarily removed so a geotextile cloth, which helps reduce further erosion, will be laid as a base for the reinforced wall.

The wall will then be rearmoured using both the new rocks and the rocks temporarily removed, says Derek.

'The length of time this will take us is going to be dependent on the weather but we're planning to be all finished by the middle of April.

'We are aware of the school holidays coming up, but were faced with a choice between doing it in the middle of the Thames Heritage Festival week, over Easter weekend, or after Easter weekend, and of the three options, we chose to do it just after Easter.”

Rearmouring of the wall will cost about $40,000.

The stretch of stopbank along Victoria Park in Thames to be rearmoured. Photo: TCDC