The Waru and Hay families from Waipū celebrate finishing their manta ray. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
A community group opposed to a fast-tracked sand mining proposal in Northland's Bream Bay has set an unofficial world record for the number of people making sandcastles at once.
Saturday's event at Ruakākā Beach saw 485 people making mostly marine-themed sand sculptures simultaneously, smashing the previous record of 396 set on a Belgian beach in 2019.
Waipū friends Charlie, 10, Breeze, 11, and Pippa, 10, sculpt a whale's tail. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Sand turtles, octopuses, dolphins and mermaids featured strongly, but fairy gardens, a pā site and a pair of Crocs also put in an appearance.
Bream Bay Guardians member Mary Sinclair said she was delighted with the turnout.
"Absolutely rapt. It was fantastic. We beat the number on the beach in terms of the world record, so it's a dream come true."
Sinclair said the event was partly a protest, but more importantly, it was an opportunity to engage with young people and recruit new members to the cause.
In particular, the group wanted young people's ideas about what a healthy ocean, healthy beaches and healthy dunes should look like.
She said her group had grave concerns about Auckland company McCallum Brothers' application for a fast-tracked, 35-year consent to mine 8 million cubic metres of sand off the Bream Bay coast.
Only the most technologically advanced counting systems were used to check if the world record had been broken. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Sinclair said the bay was a "closed sand system" so any sand mined from the sea bed would not be replenished from the sea. Instead, the holes dredged in the sea floor would eventually be filled by sand washed from local beaches, fuelling erosion.
Those taking part included Kate Hattaway of Waipū and her grandchildren.
The Hattaway grandchildren from Kumeu work on a fairy garden. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
"I've had a magical time growing up on the beach, and I want that for my grandchildren and all future generations," she said.
"The sand is the foundation of absolutely everything. Once you start messing with that, you mess with everything."
Josephine Te Pirihi, of local hapū Patuharakeke, wrote a waiata for the occasion called Waiho Ngā Whare Onepū ('Leave Our Sandcastles Alone).
Tova, 7, Kobe, 6, Rewi and Rikihana Norman, from One Tree Point, build a pā site complete with palisades and whare. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
She also had serious concerns for the future of Te Akau (Bream Bay).
"Sand mining will affect our kai moana, the manu [birds] and all the environment that's around here. We won't be around in 35 years' time, but what will be left for our tamariki?"
Hayley Martin and Darren Webb of Ruakākā add the finishing touches to a killer whale sculpture. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
A number of freshly elected district and regional councillors took part in the event, along with new Whangārei Mayor Ken Couper - who lives in nearby Waipū - and his Kaipara counterpart, Jonathan Larsen.
Couper said many generations of his family had grown up in Bream Bay.
Eleven-year-old Cate Field from Waipū sculpts an octopus with a message. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
"So it's incredibly special to us. The work the Guardians of Bream Bay are putting in to make sure the government knows how local people feel about the sandmining proposal needs to be supported. It's not my show at all, but I'm very happy to support them."
Couper said he agreed with fast-tracking in general, because something had to be done to get the country's economy moving.
The Stanbridge and McKenzie families from Ruakākā with that rarely seen species, the spotted Maui dolphin. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
However, in this case, he believed the proposal's purported benefits would not be felt in Northland.
"There's no economic benefit that we can see, there's no jobs, that's why I think this case is different."
Contestants in the unofficial world record attempt line up for the count. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Larsen said the proposed mining operation was just over the boundary from the Kaipara District, which was part of the same sand system.
"It's a finite resource, so if we take the sand from off the coast, the sand beside the coast moves to fill the hole. So I say let's keep our sand on our beaches."
New Kaipara Mayor Jonathan Larsen joins the line-up for the world record count. Photo: RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Ten-year-old Kyra from Ruakākā worried what would happen to tuatua and other shellfish if the proposal went ahead - but said she had enjoyed the day on the beach.
"It was really cool getting a world record and building stuff with sand," she said.
Sinclair said Saturday's record would not be formally recognised because of the high cost of bringing Guinness World Records officials to New Zealand to verify it.
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