Today's 6pm council meeting will vote on the adoption of a strategy for managing Dalhousie Creek at Hungry Head.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Access to the beach has been an ongoing headache for the Urunga Surf Life Saving Club for years, since storms and high tides in 2015 and 2016 eroded the dunes in front of the club house and the creek began to flow in front of the watchtower.
"It is of great concern that at times, we cannot transport vital lifesaving equipment onto the beach to carry our our patrol duties," club president Michael Dougherty told the Courier-Sun in 2017.
"This can also translate to emergency situations when our club can be called upon to take part in search and rescue missions. Access across the creek often means a wade through knee to waist deep water where you cannot see the bottom. This also presents a safety issue not only for patrol members but young children and families at Sunday Nippers."
The Dalhousie Creek Entrance Management Strategy, which was on public exhibition from December to January, recommends that the following set of actions be implemented as Stage 1, subject to suitable funding being available.
- Maintaining a low point (or ‘dry notch’) along the preferred creek alignment to act as a ‘spillway’ during high creek water levels. It is intended to provide a preferential creek opening location should natural breakout occur.
- Beach scraping from the inter-tidal area and from the ‘dry notch’ (up to four times a year).
- Beach nourishment and dune building in three main areas, using sand from the above actions: 1. The 4WD entrance to beach to ensure ongoing access for emergency and SLSC vehicles; 2. Area immediately in front of the SLSC watch tower allowing pedestrian access to beach; and 3. Area north of the SLSC lookout to rebuild the eroded dune area.
- Planting and weed control to allow the dunes to establish and revegetate.
- Artificial opening of Dalhousie Creek only if required to meet stakeholder objectives (if not met by above) and not more than once per year.
Two submissions on the draft strategy were received, with one being from the Urunga Surf Lifesaving Club and both in support.
At the meeting, councillors will be asked to allocate $48,770 from the Environment Levy Reserve towards Stage 1, which would be matching funds for a potential grant from the Office of Environment and Heritage Coastal Management Program.
The strategy includes two other stages to be implemented only if Stage 1 works prove ineffective.
These involve the use of geotextile sand containers to form a partially buried revetment to control northern migration of Dalhousie Creek (Stage 2) and subsequently, if seen as necessary and justified, the use of permanent rock work to train the northern bank of Dalhousie Creek (Stage 3).
"The focus is on minimal intervention to maintain the creek entrance area in as natural a state as possible, in keeping with the natural values of the area," the report says.
Janene Carey
Janene Carey is the senior journalist for the Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun
Janene Carey is the senior journalist for the Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun
