So the problem continues. When I visited Kingscliff near the border of NSW and Queensland, in April this year, I was both intrigued and dismayed at the small disaster in coastal management that was so evident. There was a road to nowhere, in the waterfront park come parking area.
Beyond the green mesh barrier was beach, well a beach of sorts. It was certainly an area of sand and were it not for a few tell tale signs, like pieces of road tarmac strewn across the sand and an ominous wall of rocks emerging in the distrance, it might simply have been an area of coastline, once poorly managed, now being brought back into some dynamic equilibrium by the forces of nature.
Today my brother sent me a link to the Tweed Shire Echo. It presented a view of the same beach, now six weeks later and in an even more degraded condition. Yet the tone was almost upbeat. The article read:
Tweed Shire Council says it’s preparing to carry out interim works on the beachfront at Kingscliff to restore public access to the beach as the southern corner of the beach continues to erode.
Next week further sandbagging works will be undertaken to enable safe access to the beach near the Cudgen Headland Surf Club.
So the Tweed Shire Council is on the case.
The article went on to say that:
Some 300,000 cubic metres of sand would be placed on the beach and re-nourishment would continue as required in the long-term, in accordance with council’s adopted Tweed Coastline Management Plan.This sand nourishment would cover the rock wall – which is currently exposed – and this wall would only be visible after extreme weather events.
I’m inclined to wonder just what the real cost of such management strategies are, for the residents of the Tweed Shire. Why did they build the wall in the first place?
Is the Tweed Shire seriously advancing the beach nourishment strategy as the only viable one?
It seems the mismanagement of the coastal zone continues, unabated. I wonder if the Tweed Shire Council has any plans to deal with sea level rise?
Russell Darnley Blog 