Full assessment of sand carting risks should be released before project begins, council says
Sand carting at Semaphore should not begin until a full study into its risks has been conducted, says the local council — and it has called an urgent meeting with the government.
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Port Adelaide Enfield Council has joined the fight against sand carting at Semaphore.
The council agreed at its last meeting that an urgent meeting between Mayor Claire Boan, chief executive Mark Withers and Environment Minister David Speirs be arranged and that all sand carting plans be halted until an environmental report had been completed.
Councillors called for a “comprehensive assessment … including but not limited to an environmental impact statement” of the “risks” associated with sand carting at Semaphore and the heavy trucks needed for the works prior to it commencing next month.
They also want all information about plans to mitigate risks to public health and safety, the beach, dunes, private property and roads to be publicly released.
Cr David Wilkins told the meeting there had been “considerable community interest and concern” about the sand mining to replenish West Beach and Henley Beach.
“Certainly from my interactions, residents’ concerns were crystallised when details about the proposed route for heavy vehicle movements were reported,” Cr Wilkins said.
“The concerns have also been exacerbated, in my view, after the lack of information provided and responses received to residents’ concerns by the department … at their two community drop-in sessions.”
He said the council had been contacted by many residents, all of whom were concerned by proposed sand carting.
The sand carting project will see up to 100 trucks cart sand from Semaphore to West Beach and Henley Beach.
The trucks will operate from 7am to 5pm on weekdays for up to 10 weeks at a time, and the carting will occur three or four times over the next two years.
Mr Speirs said the sand carting was “part of routine coastal management which has been occurring at South Australian beaches for decades”.
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He said any sand removed from Semaphore would be quickly returned though a natural northward drift.
“A report by consultants Danish Hydraulics Institute last year outlined long-term options for managing erosion at West Beach,” Mr Speirs said.
“Based on the outcomes of this report and advice from coastal experts at the Department for Environment and Water, mass sand replenishment along with the completion of the pipeline were projects adopted to secure West Beach’s future.”
He did not directly address whether the government would seek an environmental impact statement for Semaphore.