Areas on Elbow Beach have been cordoned off with yellow tape due to a safety hazard caused by erosion.The wall on the public entrance of Elbow Beach has crumbled, and is now a danger to people who decide to go near it. The Department of Conservation Services is investigating what caused this area of the beach to deteriorate.Director Andrew Pettit said: “We haven’t had that many storms and not that much rain so that’s not why the erosion was caused.“Basically the issue is not storm surge or wave action but more to do with the invasive Casuarina tree.“The Casuarina is one of the greatest contributors to erosion.“Casuarina trees have a relatively shallow root system that can create wedges in weakly consolidated rock and sand. When it rains the soil or sand gets heavy and can break off much like a calving glacier.”Elbow Beach is not the only beach that is experiencing erosion, Mr Pettit said.“Erosion happens to every beach over time. Because Elbow Beach has the hotel behind it, the natural reservoir of sand that the beach needs to rebuild itself is not there.“Beaches like Warwick Long Bay and Horseshoe Bay also experience erosion but because of the dunes they have behind them, the sand can be put back onto the beach naturally.”Other beaches that are experiencing erosion are Southlands, Warwick Long Bay and Horseshoe Bay.Like Elbow Beach, Southlands is a very narrow beach with reefs close to shore and no sand reservoir, making it difficult for the beach to be naturally rebuilt.A concerned member of the public contacted the Department of Parks two weeks ago about the crumbling wall.“There were children playing near the wall and I was concerned that it could come down and crush one of them.“There is also no foundation for the taller wall; it’s been washed away. I called Parks and they didn’t contact me back,” he said.“They did put some tape around the area but it fell down then a day before Cupmatch they put up some more tape and a short barrier.“The barrier is only about four feet tall which wouldn’t stop any child from going over there anyway.”A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Public works said: “Ministry of Public Works staff met on Monday to discuss temporary works to make the area safe so that the barriers may be removed from the beach.“In the longer term we have a scheme planned for the autumn once the peak holiday season is passed to refurbish the access steps and put in place measures to reduce erosion.”