Meridian residents, Barry and Barb Smith along with building manager Karen Davidson, hosted a morning tea on Wednesday, July 17 to show interested residents what has been achieved in the past four years.

Bob was fed up with people commenting about the resort "falling into the ocean." The strip of coastline in front of the Meridian has in the past been ravaged by erosion, with matters coming to a head in 2013 when homes in Lewis Street were being lost to erosion.

Meridian took steps to protect its property, installing the Geofabric bags across two-third of its frontage in 2015. Karen explains because the bags interlock, neighbouring properties needed to come on board before the final third could be completed in 2016. After an east coast low in 2016, sand had washed off the bags but the bags didn't move, an example that the system worked.

At the time there was a bit of to and fro with council as to whether approval was needed, but as Meridian's boundaries now extend into the ocean, it reasoned it was landscaping the property.

The 105 metres cost $140,000, paid for by the owners. Neighbours have also paid for their own bags.

Some councils have had to similarly protect their coastline with one council paying a reported $6 million for 200 metres of protection.

Wednesday's morning tea accompanied a video presentation and talk about 'before and after', the process of filling and placing the bags.

Bob Cooper from Geofabric Australia was on hand to talk about the bags, how they are laid, their longevity and the Meridian project. The bags contain 2.5 cubic metres of sand and weigh 5 tonne.

Then the party took a walk to the beach via the switchback path which has been planted out with pigface, grasses and turf.

Between 25 and 30 people attended the morning tea.

Bob and Barb Smith were residents of Old Bar but relocated to Victoria for family reasons. They purchased a property at Meridian in 2014 and spend about three months of the year there, catching up with friends.

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