Grant District Council consult community on coastal erosion and inundation threatens at Pelican Point

A quaint and quiet SA seaside town faces total wipe-out, as coastal erosion and inundation threaten its future.

The small coastal town of Pelican Point is at risk of going under, as erosion threatens to wash away the community in the next 75 years. Picture: Google Maps .

A small coastal town of 80 residents in the state’s South-East is at risk of going under, as erosion threatens to wash away the community in the next 75 years.

Grant District Council is consulting the community on ways to safeguard its coastal townships under threat of coastal erosion, rising sea levels and flooding.

Pelican Point, 40km west of Mount Gambier, was identified by the council as being at ‘high’ risk of erosion and had a 50 per cent chance of being under water by 2100.

The picturesque town of Pelican Point is under threat of erosion and inundation. Picture: Cathy Davis

Majority of the town’s residents live near the water’s edge and, in an effort to safeguard their homes, some have built an unapproved sea wall on Crown Land.

Resident Adrian Ferguson told the ABC he and other homeowners had placed heavy rocks in front of their properties – some just before recent storms – to “look after our investment”.

“It’s stopping erosion in front of our shacks – otherwise it would just be gone, the way the sea has been,” Mr Ferguson said.

The council’s chief executive, Darryl Whicker, urged the local community to “exercise calm and restraint and to go through the proper approval processes”.

“This community for a long period has been built on absolute beachfront and is aware, if nothing changes, their properties could be at threat,” Mr Whicker said.

“What has raised levels of angst is probably the work we’re doing as a planning tool to understand our inundation and adaptation risks.

“But this modelling is around 2050 and 2100 and helps provides a plan to deliver a robust solution in time.

“It is a live model that can be improved with greater data such mapping offshore reefs.”

A view of Pelican Point from a coastal property without a section of the sea wall. Picture: Cathy Davis

The council is working with neighbouring Wattle Range and Robe councils to develop coastal adaptation strategies for 11 towns affected by erosion and inundation.

In a draft report, Pelican Point was found to be at ‘high risk’ of inundation by 2100.

The town’s low elevation makes it ‘highly vulnerable’ to inundation during storm events which was likely to cause ‘substantial damage’ to properties, the report stated.

A council survey, mostly of Pelican Point, Carpenter Rocks and Port MacDonnell residents, found a third of respondents did not support relocating private property as part of the adaptation strategy.

However, there was willingness to modify homes or properties if it helped manage future risk, and more than half said they would contribute financially to improve coastal management.

Mr Whicker said the council had formed a Pelican Point working group to work with elected members and consultants on determining and implementing solutions.

“The council would see this as a shared responsibility, as councils aren’t historically responsible for protecting private property or above the high water mark,” he said.

Originally published as Grant District Council consult community on coastal erosion and inundation threatens at Pelican Point