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Belongil Beach Erosion
- 1/11/09
- Categorized in: Byron Shire
After several years of "negotiations" between Byron Council and Belongil Beach home owners over coastal erosion management it has been decided that the costs should be shared. The new laws drafted by the NSW State Government will place financial responsibility of protecting properties from erosion to both parties, Byron Council and Belongil home owners.
Last May, Belongil Beach properties were affected by king tides and large swells causing erosion of large pieces of land. Several households were evacuated and a couple of residents lost 1000m2 and 400m2 of land.
Sand bags, rocks and car wrecks from previous efforts to stop this coastal erosion were exposed. The car wrecks were placed there in 1970's with the idea of dune stabilisation. Hundreds of sand bags were placed along the Belongil Beach in 2002, this was a temporary success.
The Byron Council's original policy on the coastal erosion is a 'planned retreat'. This plan is directly opposite to the plan of Belongil Beach residents, which is to stay and build rock walls and barriers. Belongil Beach home owners demanded an approval from Byron Council to build a 250m wall to protect their homes from the erosion.
Some experts are voicing their concerns that building sea walls and barriers to protect the properties in question could create more damage to the beach itself.
The NSW State government is introducing a new policy on coastal erosion planning. These measures should clarify the rights of Belongil Beach property owners and Byron Council. Environmental impact statements on a case by case basis will be a core requirement when preparing this legislation.
This legislation will require Byron Council to introduce a code of practice for residents and councils building barriers. The council will have to prepare emergency storm plans as well.
I think we should not try to fight the ocean. Coastal erosion is a natural process. If some of you wanted to build houses so close to the ocean you should bare the consequences. Why would other people have to pay for building the wall to protect your houses? I have to admit, if I was the owner of one of those expensive houses on the beach, I would also try to make other people pay for it.
Typical response from the jealous. I wonder how this individual feels now after the flood disasters are happening in QLD? Do we let the hundreds of thousands of Australian Tax paying & rate paying citizens become victims of nature? They knew the risk when they built within 5km of a creek. Flooding is a natural process. What about the people in the Byron Shire bushland areas? Should we let them just succumb to bushfires & not bother trying to fight the fires or putting protection measures in?
Sam (comment 1) is your classic uneducated, ignorant , jealous, low income earning Australian, who thinks the rich must pay for the useless element in Australian society. & for the record Sam, the beach front owners have tried to pay for it themselves but were faced with being arrested if they do anything, thanks to the policies of the Greens Byron Shire Council. The most incompetent council & mayor Australia has ever seen.
Steve, if someone decides to build a house on a sand dune, few meters from the beach / ocean, that person should be responsible for the consequences.
The beach owners should not be allowed to make any changes to the beach. Beach is a public place and it looks fine as it is. If they want to protect their houses, they should do that within their own blocks. I don't want any sandbags and extra rocks on the beach.
For the record Steve, I am one of those rich people living in Byron Bay. Low income earners are real people and you should not discriminate against them.
Oh, very good Sam. On the internet telling me you are one of the rich. Typical response from the non wealthy. Maybe you are new at it. But lets not harp on that issue. lets look at your ignorant staments.
1. "the beach owners should not be allowed to make any changes to the beach. Beach is a public place and it looks fine as it is."
I agree. We should remove the protection works in Byron town centre immediately. The business centre of Byron is 3m below belongil & will be the first area to go. I wonder if you earn your riches from business in Byron? Removing the works will also restore Belongil to its former glory as proven by the most recent study.
2."If they want to protect their houses, they should do that within their own blocks."
Perfect. Except the greens council wont allow it. They fought 5 days in supreme court against a belongil resident over a garden 3m wide. They accused him of disguising protection works inside his boundary as a garden. Cost to rate payers? $50k per day!!!! for court costs. Over a freaking garden!!!!
In other words, these green twits in council wont allow the owners to do that.
& Sam, when low income earners produce ignorant statements like yours , completely oblivious to the facts, then I will discriminate against them.
A little bit of science for you to finish off on. Erosion is measure in tens of metres over hundreds of years(ie. ten metres per hundred). Bushfires travel at speeds of up 40km PER HOUR!!!! No need to tell you how quickly floods can develop. Tsunamis travel at 100km per hour & reach Km's inland(eg all of Byron, Brunz Ballina etc)
$$$$millions are spent in Australia every year protecting Australian from Flood, drought, fire & now even Tsunami.
yet the belongil residents are faced with arrest, if they put 1 rock in front of their house, on their own land, with their own money, to protect it.
Grow up!
A proper environmental impact statement should be done before any building work. If building a rock wall is the best solution to preserve the beach and the houses than build the rock wall.