PLAN TO RESTORE KIRRA BEACH

Premier Anna Bligh has announced up to $1.5 million to begin to restore the popular Kirra Beach to its past glory.

The plan will consist of a short term sand excavation strategy backed up by a long term strategy to solve the problem on the world famous stretch of beach.

“For the past eight years this beach has been slowly transforming from a world famous surfing destination to a flat expanse of sand and water,” she said.

“We will immediately put up to $1.5 million towards excavation work to relocate up to 200,000 cubic metres of sand.

“The sand will be moved towards the shore to create sand dunes.

“Moving the sand in this way will allow tidal forces to move additional sand off the reef which should begin to restore the normal wave activity that Kirra was famous for.

“We are working with nature and it is impossible to say how quickly the beach can return to normal but this $1.5 million will be the first step towards a more permanent solution to the problems at Kirra.”

The plan will use existing funds available from the Department of Local Government, Sport and Recreation, Environmental Infrastructure Program.

The Premier said the excavation plan would be backed up by moves to co-operate with the New South Wales Government and the Gold Coast Council to alleviate the long term cause of the problem.

“We have already entered into negotiations with NSW Lands Minister Tony Kelly to make changes to the Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing,” she said.

“We will continue to negotiate a long term solution to reduce the amount of sand being pumped to Kirra, such as moving the pipeline.

“We need to make sure that a solution such as this will not impact on other beaches on the Gold Coast.

“This, combined with the immediate measures we will take should ensure that future generations can enjoy the world class surf beach that the people at Kirra can remember.”

The Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project was a joint exercise between the NSW and Queensland Governments

Legislation for the sand bypassing project was finalised by the Borbidge Government in 1998 following decades of severe erosion of southern Gold Coast beaches caused by the Tweed River entrance works.

The pumping process is designed to mimic the natural northerly movement of sand that moves up the coast from NSW.

Between 2001 and 2005 an additional 2 million tonnes of sand was pumped to the beaches of the southern Gold Coast to make up for decades of erosion.

Part of the current build-up at Kirra is due to the northern migration of this body of sand and the fact that major sand mobilisation events such as cyclones have been rare since 2001.

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