MIDCOAST Council has advised plans for the Myall River with the next dredging scheduled for 2025.

At the recent MidCoast Council on 23 March 2022, a number of questions with notice were raised by Councillor Peter Howard, including that of plans for the Myall River.

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MidCoast Council Director for Liveable Communities Paul De Szell discussed that Council undertakes regular dredging in the lower Myall River at two main locations including Corrie Channel and Eastern Channel.

Director Szell said that under the NSW Government Boating Access Dredging program, funding is allocated to Councils for local dredging projects to ensure the safe navigation of channels and entrances.

“Council maintains seven navigational dredging projects in the MidCoast with the lower Myall River being one of them.

‘They are all minimum five-year intervals and the next dredging for Myall River is scheduled for mid 2025,” he said.

The Corrie Channel is the designated navigation channel running around the western side of Corrie Island.

“This channel is dredged approximately every five to ten years subject to survey identifying necessity based on depth and width,” Mr De Szell said.

Dredging was undertaken in the late 1990s, 2010 and 2016.

MidCoast Council estimates that approximately 25,000m3 is moved each time, costing approximately $600,000- $700,000 depending on deposition site as infill rates vary depending on the condition of the eastern channel and outflow from the Myall Lakes.

The Eastern Channel is the original channel on the Eastern side of Corrie Island.

“The Eastern Channel is within an extremely dynamic environment due to exposure to swell and wind waves and major currents in the Port and it provides a temporary navigation benefit especially to small craft,” he said.

Mr De Szell says that the dredging of the Eastern Channel provides a stockpile for the Jimmys Beach Sand Nourishment Program with 100,000–120,000m3 dredged every five years at a cost of $1.7M.

Dredging was undertaken in both 2015 and mid 2020 with scheduled plans for mid 2025 for the next dredge.

Myall River Action Group advocate Gordon Grainger says that although action has been taken, the Council needs to re-evaluate plans.

“The actual fact is that we will lose the Eastern entrance within three years so we would like to see dredging on the basis of every three years, but alternatively we have provided Council with drone shots taken monthly which clearly show that the river entrance is changing and that nature is trying to rebuild Myall Point,” Mr Grainger said.

Myall Point was a deep-water channel which stretched from Winda Woppa (where it is now) 2.7km across towards Nelson Bay.

The channel allowed access between the Spit and Corrie Island which enabled boats to come into Tea Gardens to collect timber in the 1800s.

After several houses and a lighthouse were built on the Peninsula, trees were chopped down and subsequently, when a cyclone hit the Peninsula in 1927, it was wiped out resulting in the sand which is now left in the Bay.

“Nature is trying to rebuild it (Myall Point) and so we’re asking Council to change the profile from an immediate left-hand dredge to allowing Myall Point to be rebuilt.

Mr Grainger says that if that were to recur, then it would allow for a dredging program that would more than likely be on a five-year-basis

“Initially, because of so many different Government agencies which we had to work with to obtain the original dredging, Council was required to follow the old five-year profile.

“Council will need to start working now to change that profile and ensure we can maintain the river,” Gordon said.

By Tara CAMPBELL