Geraldton mayor happy with erosion measures

Steps taken to combat coastal erosion off Whitehill Road in Drummond Cove are showing early promise, according to City of Greater Geraldton mayor Shane Van Styn.

Late last year the City installed two 40m-long groynes, using modern sandbagging technology called geotextile sand containers, as a medium-term measure.

This followed coastal erosion of Whitehill Road in 2016.

Mr Van Styn said although it was still early days, the groynes were showing some initial success.

Drummond Cove Progress Association president Gavin Hirschhausen said the groynes were a good interim outcome.

“Once we’ve observed a full swing of the year’s seasons, the next steps in the project will be more telling,” he said.

Safety fences erected around the reserve after the 2016 event will be replaced with bollards and rails.

Mr Van Styn said with coastal works completed the City was now able to respond to requests to improve the reserve, north of the John Batten Community Hall.

Mr Hirschhausen said enhancing the area was important as it would enable the community to access the reserve for recreational purposes.

“We will continue to work with the City to make further improvements to the foreshore space, which will increase community use of the area,” he said.

In November 2018, the council adopted the Geraldton Coastal Hazard Risk Management and Adaptation Planning report.

Mr Van Styn said the process of adapting to coastal erosion and inundation was in stage 3, which involved developing a local coastal planning policy.

A spokesman for Geofabrics, who manufactured and supplied the specialised containers for the Drummond Cove project, said geotextile sand containers have been used successfully in Australia since the 1980s and those made today can expect a lifetime of over 20 years when properly installed.