Matangi beach day lasts eleven minutes before the sand turns into a pond, council says it's not their sand

Matangi held its first "beach day" on Saturday, six trailer loads of sand tipped onto the hall lawn so nobody had to drive to Raglan, and it was fine for eleven minutes.

Then it was not. Organiser Pania Whitiora, who'd spent Friday night raking the sand into what she called "a vibe, not a pit, a vibe", said the sky had been "blue. Just blue" at 10.14am. "I looked up to do the kids' sunscreen and by the time I looked down a bloke's chilly bin was floating. Not drifting. Floating! I'd only done one arm."

Kahu from the coffee cart, who had parked himself upwind of the sausage sizzle, reckoned he'd clocked it from the start. "Saw the cloud coming over from Cambridge. Didn't say anything, ay, didn't want to be that guy. Then it just sat on us. Sold forty flat whites though, so, swings and roundabouts." Asked if he meant roundabouts in the Hamilton sense, he said he "wasn't getting into that today".

By midday the beach was a pond with a lifeguard tower, which is a chair from the hall kitchen, and the sand had started heading for Tauwhare Road at about the pace of a ring road consultation. Residents have asked the council to collect what's left, on the grounds the council signed off the event, lent the trailer, and told Pania on Thursday it would "probably be fine". The council, which has had a week, took two days to reply.

STATEMENT FROM COUNCIL

Council is aware of community concerns regarding the sand currently located at and around the Matangi hall reserve. It should be noted that the material was sourced by event organisers, and that weather on the day sits outside Council's area of responsibility. A trailer was made available as a gesture of goodwill and Council understands this was appreciated at the time. Options for recovery of the material are being considered and an update will be provided in due course, subject to resourcing and the programme of works. In the meantime residents are reminded that the stormwater network is not designed to receive sand, and any sand entering that network will be treated as a matter for the organisers. Council thanks the community for its patience and looks forward to working together on future events, which it is under no obligation to support.