Rain washes out Gap work

Peter Farago
TORQUAY residents have told Great Ocean Road Coast Committee “we told you so” after a heavy downpour washed away controversial work at White’s Beach’s The Gap.
The Esplanade resident Bernice Cain said last weekend’s downpour washed away fences and tree branches placed in The Gap just months ago.
Mrs Cain said residents had predicted the damage when arguing against the GORCC project.
“They didn’t listen,” she said.
“It’s all a mess. The water just went back through there.
“They won’t believe it but there’s no stopping nature.
“This is proof The Gap is a natural waterway.”
Mrs Cain said the committee had used school children to plant trees and place branches at The Gap.
“All those fences are down and the children’s drawings are in the sand,” she said.
“When it rained and all the water went through it washed it all out. I was amazed at the damage.”
Surf Coast Community and Ratepayers Association secretary Lyn Smith said she had written to Surf Coast Shire, GORCC and Department of Sustainability and Environment on concerns about flooding in the area.
“The amount of water that went through there scoured out The Gap, which the committee artificially filled,” Mrs Smith said.
“On Sunday it was one massive lake.
“At 8am the water was a foot under the footbridge. At 3pm the water was inches over the footbridge and it was really zooming out to sea, showing how the sandy water got out to the bay.”
Mrs Smith said the area had flooded in 2002, 2003 and 2005 and an increase in residential dwellings threatened a “stormwater catastrophe”.
GORCC coast manager Rod Goring said the committee’s management of The Gap was unlikely to change after the damage.
“I think it’s still a status quo on how the committee manages the area,” he said.
“There are clear objectives we tried to meet. It’s unfortunate that some of the rain events caused damage but in the long term the residents would be pleased.
“We have a whole range of users in that area and we’re pretty keen to maintain that access.”
Mr Goring said the committee hoped to clean up the area in the next couple of days.