Beach dump attack

KIM WATERS
State Government could shelve controversial plans to dump imported sand on Portarlington’s beach, according to a foreshore boss.
The expected turnaround follows a meeting this week in which residents and environmentalists slammed the Department of Sustainability and Environment proposal.
Bellarine Bayside Foreshore Committee chief executive officer Tim Page-Walker said the plan to relocate sand from Gippsland to Portarlington was one of a “myriad” of options for restoring the beach.
Nothing was “decided as yet”, Mr Page-Walker said.
“We’re going to the community for a consultation process on this. We’ve now done a detailed design and that will be presented for people to add their comments and feedback to as to what would be the most appropriate renourishment project.”
Mr Page-Walker said some of the area’s beaches were “so depleted” they had stopped protecting adjoining cliffs from erosion.
Objectors fear the $80,000 project is an environmental threat that would also be a waste of taxpayers’ money after the beaches washed away again.
Portarlington’s Pamela Edwards labelled it “a quick fix” and a “bloody waste of money”.
“Something needs to be done and it looks good for them (Bellarine Bayside) to dump some sand on the beach but is it the right thing,” she said.
“Unless there are proper investigations into tidal patterns and why the sand has eroded so badly then what’s the point of dumping sand that will then get washed away.
“This is a quick fix that isn’t going to last and will end up wasting a lot of money.”
Geelong Environment Council’s Joan Lindros attributed widespread erosion of Portarlington’s beach to increasingly severe storms on the Bellarine Peninsula.
“If the problem has been caused by unusually strong storms then dumping sand on the beach is only going to be a temporary fix and will just be washed away,” she said.
“We don’t need the Government slapping a quick solution over a serious problem because in the long run it will fail.”