Concrete pad gets makeover

By Ian Carson

The concrete pad at Ōtaki Beach is getting a spruce-up, but serious work at the beach –potentially – could be a bit over a year away.

Kāpiti Coast District Council’s Long-Term Plan has pencilled in $872,000 in total to be spent on “Ōtaki Beach development” – $56,000 in 2024-25, $570,000 in 2025-26, and $246,000 in 2028-29.

The reality, however, is that what’s called “road stopping” is a big impediment to any development. Land on the beachfront is technically a road, and that status has to be revoked in a long process. The council could also remove the funding in its three-yearly reassessment of long-term priorities, due in 2024.

Meantime, Kāpiti Coast District Council has engaged local contractor Concrete Doctors to fix the surface of the pad that has broken and cracked in recent years.

“They’re concentrating on the worst of the cracks and larger areas that require digging out and relevelling,” Ōtaki Community Board chair Cam Butler says. “This work also includes grinding down any rough spots.”

After the area is water-blasted, council staff will repaint the markings for the basketball court and the padder tennis courts.

The refurbish has cost about $15,000 – Cam says a total court resurface has been quoted at $107,000.

“The contractor has indicated that the current work will give us a good useable surface for a further 4-5 years, but at some stage we will need to look at a total resurface of the area,” he says.

The concrete pad will be multi-purpose, suitable not only for ball games but also for skateboards and scooters.

The pad was in the 1950s and 60s a bustling skating rink, with a kiosk, music, games and skating competitions. n See historical article on page 22 – Life as a teen in 1950s Ōtaki