Kingston Council to spend $500k in emergency funds to dredge blocked Cape Jaffa marina, but says it will happen again
A council will spend $500,000 in emergency funds to dredge and reopen a vital marina – but says it’s just going to happen again.
A regional council will spend half a million dollars on emergency dredging of a local marina after almost 100,000 cubic metres of sand was washed in by storms last month, forcing them to close it indefinitely.
The move – which it says will be only temporary without government assistance – means it will spend its entire sand dredging budget on the “natural disaster” to get the marina open again for the peak summer tourism time.
It has now issued an urgent plea to the state government for more funds, saying it was only a matter of time before the marina is again clogged by sand.
Earlier this month, Kingston Council announced it had made the difficult decision to close the Cape Jaffa Marina to all vessels indefinitely due to high volumes of sand accumulating at the marina mouth after August storms.
Both commercial fishing fleets and recreational fishers who use the marina have been forced to relocate.
The announcement was met with strong backlash from the local community frustrated mass sand accumulation has been an ongoing issue for the marina and surrounding shores since its construction in 2006.
The council has now engaged its dredging contractor to remove the build-up as soon as possible – likely the first week of November – aiming to re-open the marina to all vessels by the end of the month.
Earlier this year, the council spent almost $1.5m in total removing 75,000 cubic meters of sand build-up in the marina to get ahead of the expected sand accretion rates.
“However, the recent storms were so impactful that this campaign is now largely redundant and greater interventions are now required,” a council spokesperson said.
“(We) consider the recent storm impact as a natural disaster and (are) seeking funding support to deal with its impact upon the Cape Jaffa marina environment.”
The scheduled November dredging will use up the rest of 2024’s remaining dredging budget – about $520,00 – but the council notes said the full extent of the new works would “far exceed this amount”.
However, a state government spokeperson said responsibility for sand management at the
Cape Jaffa Marina was with Kingston District Council, “and has done since it was transferred from the private developer to council some years ago”.
“At a meeting with Deputy Premier Susan Close last week, the minister encouraged council to explore long-term solutions for managing the issue including with the Commonwealth,” the spokesperson said.
“There is no state government funding stream to directly deal with dredging private marinas and monies set aside to manage fisheries or to protect coastal habitats cannot be used for these purposes.”
Kingston Council said without “significant grant funding” or other state government support, the work would be only temporary.
“However, council has committed to the works, mindful of the impacts to businesses, tourism and residents leading into the important peak holiday and fishing season,” the spokesperson said.
It said it was receiving advice on potential sand pumping.
The Cape Jaffa marina is the closest harbour for vessels from the Southern Adelaide/Fleurieu region and normally the location for launches of SES rescue boats.
It is the only boat ramp within the Kingston Council area, meaning with it out of action, it is impossible to launch larger recreational vessels locally.
The state government said it would assist council where it could to find a solution.
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Originally published as Kingston Council to spend $500k in emergency funds to dredge blocked Cape Jaffa marina, but says it will happen again
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