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Thorough answers needed for Inverloch

1 min read

FOLLOWING a community discussion at the Hub on July 13 regarding the crisis currently threatening the survival of the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club building and some houses in the vicinity of Surf Parade, I would like to raise four issues which have not been clearly addressed by the current BCSC and State Government’s decision.

1/ Why do the Authorities believe that replacing the eroded sand with sand barriers planted with vegetation would be any more successful at holding back the sea than were the mature, firmly rooted banksias opposite the RACV Resort? 

2/ If a sand barrier was successful, why would one expect it would cause lesser flanking erosion than rock bags, which do have the ability to deflect tidal surges?

3/ Sand dunes require constant renourishment as they are eroded constantly from their base, causing a loss of height, while rock bags (which last 60 years) settle firmly into the sand. Constant dredging and pumping of sand are very expensive to install and maintain. Rock bags can also be easily removed if not needed in the future.

4/ If the five year gap in accessing the bulk of grant money allocated by the Federal Government for State Authorities to act on protecting Inverloch’s coast does result in the loss of the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club building, this is no reason to “let nature take its course” as was the fall back mantra of Jordan Crugnale MP despite her promoting the faulty sand pumping technique.

The Surf Parade Road/Bunurong road and housing in the vicinity of Surf Parade warrant protection from inundation, regardless of the outcome of the delay in protecting the Surf Life Saving Club building.  

Some experts believe that the installation of rock bags could result in the loss of enough sand to destroy the opportunity to use the area for surfing. Even that prospect is not enough to allow the Surf Club building and surrounding infrastructure to be abandoned.

Rosemary Hutchinson, Inverloch