- Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan
The Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan (GCSMP) is an ICZM plan to manage the coastal resources of Gold Coast City. The EPA encourages Council's to produce shoreline management plans for
coastline s andtidal waterways within the local authority area.The
Gold Coast City Council commenced work on the GCSMP in 2005. [ [http://www.griffith.edu.au/centre/gccm/gcsmp/ Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan] ] The previous key planning document for Gold Coast beaches was the Delft Report of 1971.Delft Report
Gold Coast Beaches have had periods of severe
beach erosion . In 1967, a series of eleven cyclones removed most of the sand from Gold Coast beaches. TheGovernment of Queensland engaged engineers fromDelft University in theNetherlands to advise what to do about the beach erosion. The Delft Report was published in1971 , and outlined a series of works for Gold Coast Beaches includingGold Coast Seaway , works at Narrowneck that resulted in the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy and works at theTweed River that became theTweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project. [ [http://coastalmanagement.com.au/projects/NGCBPS/ Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy] ] [ [http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/gccm/InfoSheet/Seaway.pdf Gold Coast Seaway] ] [ [http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/1972cabdocs/beach.asp Delft Report] ] [ [http://www.tweedsandbypass.nsw.gov.au/ Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassign Project] ]Gold Coast Seawall
The Gold Coast seawall in Australia is contained within the Gold Coast's shoreline management plan. The original seawall was laid out following 11
cyclone s in 1967 with assistance from coastal engineers fromDelft University . The seawall alignment was selected to pick up as many of the older seawalls as possible. The seawall consists of three layers, armour boulders up to 4 tonnes, secondary armour around 360kg and a clay shale foundation layer. The seawall is 16m across and 6m high and has a front slope of 1:1.5. The seawall was tested in a wave tank to withstand attack from a 1:100 cyclone wave.A Gold Coast Seawall costs around A$3000 per meter to construct in 2006. The seawall is constructed along a designated seawall alignment along urban sections of the Gold Coast coastline. Non-Urban sections of coastline including
South Stradbroke Island and theSouthport Spit are not licenced for the construction of a seawall. The Gold Coast Planning Scheme requires private property owners along the beach to construct the seawall at their property at the property owners expense prior to making any investment into their house. TheGold Coast City Council constructs sections of seawall that protect public land.Gold Coast Seaway
The Delft report recommended the stabilisation of the
Gold Coast Seaway and the construction of a sand bypass system to pump sand from the mainland under the navigation channel toSouth Stradbroke Island . The GCSMP will examine whether 20% of the sand could instead be backpassed sustainably to the beaches ofSurfers Paradise to mitigate the impact ofclimate change .Prior to stabilisation of the
Gold Coast Seaway theisland welding hypothesis suggests that up to 20% of all sand moving along the Gold Coast (Longshore drift ) entered theGold Coast Broadwater to gradually weld islands onto the mainland.Narrowneck Reef
In 1971 the Dutch University Delft completed a report for the Queensland State Government recommending the construction of a
groyne at Narrowneck. TheGold Coast City Council examined the idea of a groyne and instead constructed anartificial reef to stabilise the foreshore at Narrowneck. So far the reef has worked well as a coastal control point, but has been disappointing in its secondary objective to improve surfing. A surprising benefit of the Narrowneck Reef has been its ability to attract marine growth and reef fish and is now a popular diving andfishing location. Narrowneck is particularly popular forkite surfing and longboarding.Kurrawa Park Reef
The Narrowneck Reef was constructed as a coastal control point 1/3rd of the way between Burleigh Heads and the
Gold Coast Seaway . The GCSMP will examine if a new reef at Kurrawa Park should be constructed at the 2/3rds position to assist with the adaption of Gold Coast beaches toclimate change .Palm Beach Protection Strategy
In 2004 Council proposed a new beach protection scheme for Palm Beach which included a new reef for 21st Avenue Palm Beach. The proposed scheme included 3 reefs and
beach nourishment . Some in the community didn't like the idea and organised a "no reef" protest campaign that prevented the scheme being implemented.Currumbin Alley
Council dredges
Currumbin Creek each year.outhern Points
The Southern Points of the Gold Coast are northern facing and provide spectacular coastal vistas and great surf.
Kirra Point
A popular
surfing site, surfers are concerned that sand is drowning quality surf, but there is debate about the objectivity of perception of impacts. Council is undertaking nourishment of the foreshore to bury the seawall to increase the amount of recreational parkland.Greenmount Point
Surfing waves break along a sand bank that extends from Snapper Rocks through Rainbow Bay, past Greenmount point and Coolangatta, then to Kirra. This region has been called the Superbank.
napper Rocks
Surfers lobbied to have the sand outlet moved to improve the Surf at Snapper Rocks
Tweed River Entrance Sandbypassing
A sand bypassing system commenced operating to deliver sand across the Tweed River from NSW to
Queensland in 2003.Gold Coast Oceanway
The
Gold Coast Oceanway is a 36km network of pathways along Gold Coast beaches that encourages healthier and more sustainable coastallifestyles .References
External links
* [http://www.tweedsandbypass.nsw.gov.au/ Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project]
* [http://www.wrl.unsw.edu.au/coastalimaging Gold Coastal Beach Cameras]
* [http://www.gu.edu.au/centre/gccm/gcsmp Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan]
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