In July last year I supplied a photo to local media to bring them up-to-date on the continuing sand loss to Kingscliff beach in conjunction with a letter suggesting that, if sand was pumped onto this beach, without first determining whether this erosion was a form of recession due to a manmade obstruction which altered the hydraulics of Cudgen Creek, it would be lost to the natural northern drift.
To meet the Council’s commitment to have a beach on which to conduct the NSW Surf Lifesaving Titles, they used a $500,000 Government Disaster Aid Grant to build a rock wall to extend the northern training to the Surf Club Building with pumped sand to cover this wall to create a sandy beach – work that started on February 1 and was finished by March 9.
By March 22, two days after the finish of the State Titles, a large amount of this sand had gone north, with a batter to disguise the erosion escarpment carried out on March 29. By April 7 a double row of fencing had been erected with the area between these two fences planted by Dune Care workers and an irrigation system installed beside the landward fence.
Thirteen days later the first two panels of the seaward fence had gone and by May 12 most of the rock wall was exposed, with the planted shrubs destroyed. The outcome by May 17, the entire length of the rock wall is fully exposed with sand loss from behind a now inadequate rock wall set to continue. Some outcome for a $500,000 grant plus some more from Council’s Funds!
Consequently, under whose direction was all this work undertaken? We are getting the same story from Jane Lofthouse as last year.
Thomas Eady
Kingscliff
