Belongil Beach at Byron Bay
A $630,000 PROJECT aimed at protecting Old Bar's Meridian Resort from erosion is being re-advertised for public comment.
A development application lodged by the resort's strata owners corporation with the NSW Coastal Panel has been amended, and is undergoing a fresh public exhibition stage.
The project involves construction of an 11 metre wide, 6.2 metre high sloped wall containing hundreds of sand filled geotextile bags.
The wall would extend along the seaward boundary of Meridian, as well as several adjoining properties.
Engineers from International Coastal Management have lodged the amended application, which is on public exhibition until February 22, with submissions closing on that date.
In its aplication, International Coastal Management says the wall is designed to protect five adjacent properties which are the most vulnerable to erosion along the Old Bar beachfront, with some further protection provided by the angled returns to two adjacent properties.
Three dwellings were removed from the area several years ago, as erosion continued.
Discussions on more permanent protection works have continued with Greater Taree City Council for a number of years, however as council has still not formally adopted its coastal zone management plan, affected landowners have sought their own protection works from the statutory body, the NSW Coastal Panel.
The application points out that the proposed works are to be constructed entirely within private property but that machinery access will be required via an adjacent designated but unconstructed Crown road.
It is understood that the Department of Primary Industries/Crown Lands will issue a short term licence to occupy the Crown land for the purposes of construction of coastal protection.
The application notes that construction is favoured from the foreshore rather than from the top of the eroded section of beach in front of the Meridian, for safety and operational reasons.
This will require some 500 truck movements and work by excavators on the beach, including the filling of the fabric bags with sand imported to the site.
While sand sourced from within Farquhar Inlet was suggested as a possible suitable source of sand by Greater Taree City Council, the applicants noted that the approvals required for this to be undertaken were expected to be time-consuming and expensive to obtain.
Therefore it is anticipated that suitable sand will be obtained from an existing supplier with delivery to the site by truck.
A copt of the amended development application is available for viewing on the NSW Coastal Panel's webpage www.environment.nsw.gov.au/coasts/coastalpanel.htm
The DA is also on exhibition at Greater Taree City Council's headquarters.