WHERE WE ARE AT NOW!
Update !
On February 26, we held a fund raiding dinner at the Taree - Old Bar Surf Club - we were lucky to have Professor Bruce Thom attend and deliver a speech in which he commended us on our manner of handling our problem. Professor Thom is very approachable and holds positions on several panels, both State and Federal, concerned with Climate Change and Coasts. Dr Shaw Mead was in Australia to carry out a study on the Wooli Beach and incorporated an address at our dinner together with the placing of the equipment, called "Aquadopp", offlthe Lewis Street Beach.
Start of our Feasibility Study
The placing of this "Aquadopp" was the commencement of our study. This was carried out with the assistance of local leisure fisherman, Andrew Gillogly and friend together with our surveyor Mark Searles on board the "Tin Pig". The "Aquadopp" was retrieved on April 10 by Dr Mead's offsider, Andrew Moores, and they are presently converting the information gained to a design for the reef which will replensih sand to our beach.Funding for Feasibility Study
It is our aim to have the study completed by July when council is hoping to have approved the Coastal Zone Management Plan in which the "multi purpose off shore reed" is included as an option. Then with that option and a positive feasibility study, together with council, we hope to go to the Federal Government fo the funding to build the reef. Our group has now raised $22,000 towards our study and have been fortunate that, through the efforts of Rob Oakeshott who is well aware of and concerned with our situation, we received a grant of $30,000 towards the study, and this ensures that we will meet our aim of completed study by July.Damage being suffered
Over the last three months the urgency for protection to our beach has become very obvious with the foredune moving back at an ever increasing rate, the littoral rainforest being demolished and scattered right along the beach. The beach is getting closer to the just completed new school buildings, the rate of erosion there being calculated at .7 metres a year. An area which is obvious to all is in front of the surf club and in particular the ramp used for launching the surf rescue boat where there is now a 2 metre drop to the beach - impossible to launch a boat. The damage at the Lewis Street beach has eased off somewhat, but that beach still needs protection and sand replenishment - however, the fact that the damage is now extending far along Badgers and up to the surf club has increased our need for protection - 100 metres of reef covers 800 metres of beach - so we may have to continue our consultations with ASR for the protection of our total beach - BUT IF THAT IS WHAT WE HAVE TO DO WE HAVE TO DO IT!!!Urgency to get reef installation commenced in December, this year
Professor Goodwin, in a study done on Old Bar Beach in 2005, stated that we are in an unprecedented 10 year storm cycle and from our point of view that commenced with the erosion in 2004 at the Lewis Street Beach. From that it would seem this erosion will continue until 2014 - another 3 years - the storm period usually commences in May and goes through to August - any work which has to be done needs to be carried out from November through to April - that is why we must agitate for our reef to commence in at least December.
PROGRESS - Worley Parsons Study and Council
At last the public exhibition of the Worley Parsons Management study has been completed. Our group is extremely
disappointed with their costing for the "off-shore reef" which is far in excess of the figures we have seen for
other reefs. We are doing our own investigations looking for detailed and accurate costings and to understand how
the difference can be so great.
Council is working towards having the Coastal Management Plan in place by July this year. We are hoping that the
plan for Old Bar will be the offshore reef and we are hoping that the completion of the feasibility study will prove
its cost will be nowhere near the figure stated in the WP study and that the benefits will be as promised.
Then we will be approaching both State and Federal Governments for grants to cover the cost of building the reef,
and we will be looking to the fact that we are the No.1 hotspot, having lost 3 homes and having 60 residences at
high risk. This erosion is affecting the entire NSW Coast and the installation of an off-shore reef here in Old Bar
could be used as a pilot plan for those other hot spots along the coast.
Origin and Need for -- With attempted protection of eroding beachfronts very serious
damage can happen in unexpected parts of the beach either north or south of the
actual work. Also there is the much discussed rising sea level to be considered.
Councils have an obligation to protect the funds of its ratepayers against claims
for damages and need to be sure this does not happen with any work they undertake
or approve.
Greater Taree City Council realized the erosion problem in 2005 and in August,
2005, applied to the then Department of infrastructure for funding to carry out
a study - the "Coastal Hazard and Coastline Management Plan for Old Bar from
Wallabi Point to Farquhar Inlet". This study was eventually commissioned to the
Worley Parsons group in April 2008 and was extended in November 2008 to cover
the entire coast of the Greater Taree City Area from Blackhead in the south to
Crowdy Head in the north to comply with an instruction from the State Government
that such a study had to be carried out by all councils affected by coastline
erosion and sea level rise. In reply to any approach we have made to State or
Federal Government it has been stated that we have to deal with the local government
body, ie local council, but both State and Federal governments have laid down
guide lines which control the council's actions, these being 1979 Coastal
Protection Act, the 1997 NSW Coastal Policy and the more recent "draft Sea Level
Rise Policy".
The final draft of the Worley Parsons Studies will be tabled on April 22, then
after perusal by council it will be placed on public display for submissions by
the public and all this should be completed by 30th June, 2010.
Originally Worley Parsons had dismissed as not suitable for our beach "Groynes"
or "off-shore reefs", but because of this group's continual research and constant
updating of the success of both these forms of protection - we understand they
are both being included as options BUT that the preferred option is the
"planned retreat" formerly known as "do nothing".
We, as a community, must deeply consider the extreme outcomes of this option.
We will be given an opportunity to make a submission when this study goes on
display.
It is important as a community to study the report, enquire and
research the implications of each option, and make a submission. This is your
right just as your right to vote and our group look to you to exercise that
right for the good of the community.
Council's Position On Beachfront
Council has to be sure in approvals given and work done that there is no possibility of damage to other property - as stated above - Our group wants a report prepared by council's engineers on our submission for URGENT ACTION as the attached plan. We will continue our quiet protests until that is achieved. Here we need to refer the reader to the plan.
LONG TERM ACTION - Off-Shore Reef - Our long term plan as a result of our research is an off-shore reef. We had a recent visit from Dr. Shaw Mead, whose company, ASR Ltd. Based in New Zealand, has built and is building off-shore reefs successfully around the world. Attached is material supplied by Dr. Mead. A particularly interesting enclosure is the one "An Assessment of Coastal Protection Options to Reduce Erosion on Exposed Coasts" as this covers most accepted types of coastal protection. Note that Professor Kerry Black referred to is no longer with ASR Ltd. but is working from his home in Lombok, Indonesia.
The first knowledge of "off-shore reefs" came to us in March 2009 with contact with Prof. Andrew Short at Sydney University, then Prof. Kerry Black and then Prof. Shaw Mead of ASR Ltd. Dr.Mead offered to address our community on March 20, when he was in Australia making a presentation to the 7th International Surf Symposium at Bondi Beach and the University of NSW Water Research Laboratory.
Shaw, a most unlikely looking professor, fitted into our community like a local and could easily have been one of our own surfing lads. On arrival at Old Bar his first action was to check the beach and its erosion - a run south by himself and then north with Mark Searles our local surveyor.Read Dr Shaw Mead's reports Off Shore Reef Action Plan 1
His address was extremely interesting and informative and the audience was captivated. The outcome as far as we are concerned is that a study has to be done to ascertain the best possible positioning of a reef. Then we needed to know:-
Question 1 - "How much will this study cost?" Answer - between $40,000 and $70,000 depending on studies available.
Question 2 - "How long from commencing study until the machines can start work?" Answer - possibly 8 months
Question 3 - "what is a likely cost of the actual off-shore reef installation?" Answer - around $3 million
We understand that this is all estimated costs and times, but we have to have somewhere to start. It is an astute person who asks for an estimate before considering the feasibility of a proposal.
OUR ACTION
LONG TERM ACTION - OFF-SHORE REEF
Whilst the seawalls and groynes protect the land we need to replenish the sand and Dr. Mead stated in his address that a 100 metre off-shore reef would accrete sand along an 800 metre stretch of the beach.
