Dear News Of The Area,

 

THOUGHT I’d pass on some info to your (Winda Woppa) Residents Association about the recent works on Jimmys Beach.

Large 2x1m hay bales have been placed along the edge of the Boulevarde as a trial to reduce sand movement over the road, and retain it on the beach (to date this work is nearing completion).

It’s hoped the larger hay bales will also last longer than the smaller ones as it’s more difficult for people to climb over them.

Council has invested time and money to source ‘weed-free’ hay bales, but we will continue to monitor what’s on site.

Manipulation of sand was undertaken during July, using existing sand reserves on the beach. The priority of this exercise was to a) move existing sand into the pinch point and b) trial reprofiling at the eastern end of the beach.

Given insufficient sand available on the beach and sea conditions at the time it was no longer practicable to achieve the  desired intertidal trial profile and a more uniform profile was created along the length of the Boulevard with the aim of providing seed sand for the pinch point.

As yet, no significant work has been undertaken to develop formal accessways on the beach as there will continue to be further trucking campaigns in the near future.

Similarly, no immediate revegetation work is being undertaken based on the expectation that the area will continue to be disrupted in the short term for initial trucking campaigns and subsequent construction of the sand transfer system pipeline.

Weed control was undertaken on the vegetated strip to the western end of the Boulevarde during june, and this will continue in the new year.

The recent east-coast low has obviously removed sand again and Council is working with OEH for funding support (50:50 split) to undertake another trucking campaign (from the Winda Woppa stockpile) prior to summer and after summer (in the interim prior to the sand transfer system being installed and operational).

Consultants (Cardno) are currently working with Council and OEH to develop the permanent sand transfer system. The consultants are exploring a variety of options which are being dictated by the site constraints, capital and operational costs.

Though unrelated, dredging of the navigation channel to the west of Corrie Island is currently being undertaken, with the sand being deposited on the winda woppa stockpile. It is expected that this work will finish late August/early September.

Aerial control of Bitou Bush on Corrie Island was undertaken in June to complement the onground weed control that has been undertaken by Worimi Green team throughout the year.

 

Andrew Morris
Parks Natural Assets Officer
MidCoast Council