An application for consent to remove about 30 hectares of mangroves from Whangamata Harbour will be lodged this month.

If the application by Environment Waikato is successful, it will be the first large-scale legal clearance of mangroves on the Coromandel Peninsula and involve the first use of machines.

After more than 10 years of debate about mangroves in the harbour, the regional council decided last December to allow for clearance south of the line populated by mangroves in 1944.

Environmental manager David Speirs said the consent application had been prepared by staff in consultation with key community groups in Whangamata.

The area to be cleared is about half the estimated area of mangroves in the harbour. It was identified through a set of criteria, such as flooding, drainage and debris build-up, Mr Speirs said.

"The proposed work will be done for ecological reasons and for public access and recreational value reasons, as opposed to being done for people's views."

Work will be done in stages, starting with a 2ha area by the causeway.

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