The Beagle Editor, "SURFSIDE CAN SINK OR SWIM"
At council's final meeting of the year last Tuesday the Coastal Management Plan was adopted by 6 votes to 2.
Residents had been fighting for mitigation against erosion of their beaches for 10 long years and the final outcome after all this time was mitigation for council infrastructure, not private property. Protection will be added to the shore of the Big 4 caravan park and the corner of the roadway at the end of it. What is left of the land eastward of there will be allowed to erode until it reaches the roadway which follows the sewer line into the suburb. There are also plans to raise the roadway in that area. The next spot that will be protected is the roadway at McLeods Creek (the dog beach) and an artificial low levee along McLeods beach and on the other side of the road to protect the pumping station from inundation.
The main beach at Surfside has been promised "sand nourishment", proven to be a very temporary and expensive option in the past but this time, this sand will only be supplied every 4 to 10 years when dredging takes place in the river mouth. Surfside does not have time to wait. Just last weekend 2 metres of dune was lost at the northern entry point of Surfside beach and again yesterday the swell is biting into the raw drop off or washing 10 metres into back yards. This is with an average high tide of 1.3 metres so heaven help us if we get another east coast low along with tides of around 2 metres or so.
The ban on protecting our homes with sandbags still applies and will be enforced with huge fines. Imagine the outcry if people had not been allowed to use their garden hoses to protect their homes in the recent bushfires." Rosemary Deadman
Above: Image from May 2021 - eighteen months on and there has been nothing from Council other than contempt for anyone daring to raise the alarm on the consequences of Council's intent.
