Sand carting: Largs Bay to Semaphore South project raises concerns
Dune damage and a stretch of beachfront left in a ‘disorderly’ state has prompted a community group and Port Adelaide Enfield Council to demand answers of the state government’s sand carting policy.
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Port Adelaide Enfield Council and a local environment group have raised concerns about the damage to 4km of beachfront from the recent carting of sand from Largs Bay to Semaphore South.
The council agreed at its last meeting to contact Environment Minister David Speirs with its concerns about how sand was removed from the beach using trucks and the impact this had on the dunes.
It also called on the State Government to publicly release any information it has on its assessment of the project which was carried out in May. The project was designed to protect the beach from winter storms.
The work is part of a larger sand carting project, which has been taking sand from Semaphore and Largs Bay to heavily-damaged West Beach.
Cr David Wilkins, who pushed for the council to write to Mr Speirs, said the community had raised concerns about how sand had been removed from in and around the Largs Bay jetty, which had left “significant gaps” in the dune system.
“This has been a key sticking point for the community,” Cr Wilkins said.
“We just think there has to be a better way.”
Warwick Norman, from Save Our Shores: Semaphore Largs Bay, said local residents had contacted the group with a raft of concerns related to the project.
These included a lack of any warning or detailed information concerning the removal of sand from under the Largs Bay jetty.
Mr Norman said residents had assumed the sand would have been evenly removed from along the beach, however “extraction seemed to be heavily focused on the area just north of the (Largs Bay) jetty”, which had contributed to erosion of the dunes in the area.
He said residents were also critical of the “disorderly” state the beach was left in at the end of the project.
“A few minutes with some of the equipment could have smoothed over the deep tread marks which were still visible well after the project was finished,” Mr Norman said.
“This was a safety issue for beachgoers, particularly when the light was fading.”
Mr Norman said residents also wanted the speed limit for trucks on the beach reduced.
He wanted the State Government to review the amount and the manner in which sand was removed from the beach in the future.
Mr Speirs said the government was working hard to “secure the coastline” and remove the need for trucks on our beaches.
“This is why we have committed nearly $50 million to undertake a mass sand replenishment from an external source at West Beach and the completion of a sand recycling pipeline from Semaphore,” Mr Speirs said.
“This project will replicate the pipeline that has been so successful in securing our southern beaches from Glenelg to Kingston Park.”
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Mr Speirs said the government would continue to work closely with locals councils and community groups – like it had over the past two years – to deliver the project.
He said the Environment Department had been closely monitoring the Largs Bay and Semaphore South area, and there had been “minimal impacts” following the sandcarting.