Think about this Councillors: Save the beach, shift our expectations

Published January 14th 2021

Save the beach, shift our expectations of who and what should move .

Until the most likely reasons for losing metres of beach in the Milford Creek area are addressed, there is no reason to move to seawall protection measures there .

At this stage 70 metre long groynes are proposed for the area and are to be constructed before Easter 2021.They should NOT go ahead.

Summary
Nothing has been done ( in the thirty or so years the Shire have been advised of the sound coastal planning needs ) to address the regressive pressures of ongoing top of dune pedestrian access , carparking and blinkered and overly impacting stormwater drainage and swale abuse in the current crisis area . Worse, The Shire continue to allow to this day the occupation and filling of the swale as evidenced by new buildings and fill areas in the area where acquisition parking, access and flood control was recommended decades ago .

Recommendation

Until the various authorities plan to change the uses of land in the area ( to suit the beach ridge system )and integrate them for beach protection, the beach and public use of it will continue to be the loser.

Background
Many of the reasons for rejecting the proposed groynes for Apollo Bay foreshore are addressed in earlier posts .Whatever the ongoing pressures from sea level rise , long shore drift , lack of sand supply from the intertidal zone from the south , no sound sand accretion in the crisis zone can occur while there is no upward land surface curve retained towards the road.
Changes to increase and retain sand retention in the current crisis zone are 30 years overdue . The very specific measures will not not all listed here ( such as acquisition ,access changes , no more parking, pedestrian access on ridges, redeveloped storm water planning ). This because detailed planning by Vicroads, The Shire and the Public land management authorities are required to integrate the various land use pressures to suit the subtle pressures of sound sand accretion ,and accommodate them with the large access and water flow pressures around them

This post is necessary because of the pressure created by the immediate threats to continued access along the Great Ocean Road near Joyce Street in particular .

The huge danger to pedestrian traffic and the erosion of the dunes in the critical sections are not new and have developed over the last 30 years , so the current quick fix pressure should be resisted till the causes are properly understood and the forces of degradation properly addressed . .

So why should our leaders stop doing what they have been planning for years ?

None of the twenty or so reports into the erosion problems properly deal with the huge hectares of bare sand moving on the doorstep, or our ongoing careless impositions and interference with the beach ridge system.
Now is not the time to fiddle in ignorance or act in reaction .
Instead of us keep on doing the same old thing, like pushing our access and drainage desires on the coast, ( the really big issue not yet even talked about ) we need to move back and work more closely together with the subtle forces of Nature going on there . Every component of nature needs space and the right amount of it . Time we reviewed our abuse of natures space .

There is no justification for creating this car park in this location ,
.
Nature is very forgiving if we give it the space it needs to work . If we keep insisting on pushing it too hard, or just seeing only the beach bit, the whole system will keep failing.
The subtle but difficult changes that are needed on the current crisis sections between Cawood Creek and Marriners Lookout road( Section 1) and the flat section before Marengo ( section 2 ) are briefly listed on the net.

Crisis sections Cawood and Marriners ( Section 1)

The problems in Crisis area 1 have taken thirty years to develop so another year without major works and direction change is NOT going to matter .
The preoccupation with simple and incomplete technical solutions like groynes and part problems like long shore drift ignore the variety of forces that apply in the different locations .

The proper planning or access ,drainage ,excavation ,structural controls , land acquisition require intensive engagement by a number of authorities -- this integrated planning not going to happen on the internet but YOU can help by insisting it happens at State Government level.

The items of concern are not identified at this date . Not all needed change areas will be listed at this date . It should be noted that filling of the swale and unsound use of the ridges ( eg filling , carparks ,ridge top access ) has continued to the present day The question for you the reader Are the various authorities really interested in finding a solution that works across their various territories?

The flat section before Marengo ( Section 2 )