MidCoast Council: Possible further erosion at Jimmys Beach

MidCoast Council is watching Jimmys Beach closely as weather forecasts indicate that further coastal erosion is possible this week, the council said in their latest release.

“Wind and swell direction resulting from the current east coast low weather event could result in further erosion at Jimmys Beach,” said Council’s Coastal Management Coordinator, Andrew Staniland.

Although sand has been moved onto the most critical part of the Beach since last week’s storm, there has not been enough time between events to restore the full sand buffer. Building a sand buffer on the Beach during a severe weather event is impossible and pointless, said the Council.

Mr Staniland said that when storm events occur close together, such as the during the last 10 day period, renourishment cannot be commenced fast enough to assist.

“Erosion at Jimmys Beach has long been identified and managed by Council. The current situation of two events close to each other is identified in the Coastal Zone Management Plan, highlighting how vulnerable this section of our coast is,” added Mr Staniland.

For several years, Council has successfully provided a sand buffer through its sand renourishment program to prevent the erosion of The Boulevarde, endorsed by community as the most effective measure at the time, ahead of hard engineering solutions.

“Our community is starting to see the impact from the increasing frequency of these erosion events, and the increasing costs required for these buffering measures to be effective,” said Mr Staniland.