Bluecliffs residents who are fighting to save their homes on an eroding coastline claim there's a lack of willingness from some involved to work together and fund a solution.
Some in the small settlement west of Invercargill want to see Meridian Energy to help fund a fix alongside local authorities.
But the local council told 1News, the situation is "complex".
Erosion continues to knock on the doors of the southern homes and owners are pushing as fast as they can for a long-term fix.
But to fund that, they want all parties to come to the table.
Environmental consultant Bill Chisholm, who is helping the Bluecliffs Beach Residents' Group, said a control gate 70 kilometres upstream of the nearby Waiau River has "always been the elephant in the room".
The gate manages lake levels at Manapōuri as part of power company Meridian Energy's hydro power scheme.
Bluecliffs residents believe the operation alongside the rough coastal environment and regular storms had contributed to the loss of land along the southern coast.
"It's fine sediment that needs to come down the river," said Chisholm, who in the 90s previously worked on the Waiau River.
"It's that fine sediment that armours the bar down here and prevents it from moving around so much and causing all these problems," he said.
The Southland District Council commissioned a report from Tonkin and Taylor to look at the issues at Bluecliffs.
The report was released in February.
It concluded that the upstream operation would likely have an "insignificant" contribution to erosion downstream.
Residents aren't convinced and are also concerned about a new resource consent application that would allow Meridian to flush even more water down the river.
'Proposal has no relationship with coastal erosion'
Meridian told 1News in a statement that the company acknowledges "it’s a distressing time for the Bluecliffs community, however, this proposal has no relationship with coastal erosion".
"The gravel extraction project being proposed at the Manapōuri Lake Control structure is to provide reliable and effective recreational and flushing flows, which will benefit river health by assisting with didymo management."
Meridian continues: "Unfortunately, the ongoing impacts of climate change will mean more examples like this around the country. It's critical we continue to decarbonise by increasing the amount of renewable energy used within Aotearoa and globally."
The power company said it is working with councils, but residents also want the government involved too.
Residents' spokesperson Glenn Puna, who owns a property at Bluecliffs said "we want to all get in the room and actually nut this out cause we're only a few weather events away being too late for a number of households".
Many residents oppose a managed retreat and want rockwall protection.
But Southland's mayor Rob Scott told 1News "we don't have any capacity to fund".
The township was placed in a local State of Emergency earlier this year as the local and regional council's tried to open the gravel bar to redirect the flow of water away from properties, but to no avail.
It comes after residents lost significant amount of land from a storm in September 2023 up until early this year.
Scott said everything is on the table, but a solution needs to be affordable and practical.
"It’s a complex situation and there isn't an easy solution there staring us in the face."
He said "the fact that they're a small community doesn't mean they're not important - whether it's one house or 18 or 1800, it's people's livelihoods and that's being factored into this as well".
Residents are now hoping a decision is made soon before it's too late.
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