The Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan (GCSMP) is an
ICZM plan to manage the coastal resources of
City of Gold Coast
The City of Gold Coast is the local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774 it is the second most populous local government area in Australia (City of Brisbane being the ...
. The
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
encourages the City Council's to produce shoreline management plans for coastlines and tidal waterways within the local authority area.
The Council commenced work on the GCSMP in 2005. The previous key planning document for Gold Coast beaches was the
Delft
Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...
Report of 1971.
Delft Report
Gold Coast Beaches have had periods of severe
beach erosion
Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...
. In 1967, a series of eleven cyclones removed most of the sand from Gold Coast beaches. The
Government of Queensland
The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy was form ...
engaged engineers from Delft University in the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
to advise what to do about the beach erosion. The Delft Report was published in 1971, and outlined a series of works for Gold Coast Beaches including
Gold Coast Seaway
The Gold Coast Seaway or Southport Seaway is the main navigation entrance from the Pacific Ocean into the Gold Coast Broadwater and southern Moreton Bay and is one of Australia's most significant coastal engineering projects. It is located at the ...
, works at
Narrowneck that resulted in the Northern Gold Coast Beach Protection Strategy and works at the
Tweed River that became the Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project.
Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassign Project
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Gold Coast Seawall
The Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
seawall in Australia is contained within the Gold Coast's shoreline management plan. The original seawall was laid out following 11 cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...
s in 1967 with assistance from coastal engineers from Delft University. The seawall alignment was selected to pick up as many of the older seawalls as possible. The seawall consists of three layers, armour boulders up to 4 tonnes, secondary armour around 360 kg and a clay shale foundation layer. The seawall is 16m across and 6m high and has a front slope of 1:1.5. The seawall was tested in a wave tank to withstand attack from a 1:100 cyclone wave.
A Gold Coast Seawall costs around A$3000 per meter to construct in 2006. The seawall is constructed along a designated seawall alignment along urban sections of the Gold Coast coastline. Non-Urban sections of coastline including South Stradbroke Island
The South Stradbroke Island (Indigenous: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''South Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast. The island ...
and the Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
Spit are not licensed for the construction of a seawall. The Gold Coast Planning Scheme requires private property owners along the beach to construct the seawall at their property at the property owners expense prior to making any investment into their house. The Council constructs sections of seawall that protect public land.
Sand Backpassing from the Gold Coast Seaway to Surfers Paradise
The Delft report recommended the stabilisation of the Gold Coast Seaway
The Gold Coast Seaway or Southport Seaway is the main navigation entrance from the Pacific Ocean into the Gold Coast Broadwater and southern Moreton Bay and is one of Australia's most significant coastal engineering projects. It is located at the ...
and the construction of a sand bypass system to pump sand from the mainland under the navigation channel to South Stradbroke Island
The South Stradbroke Island (Indigenous: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''South Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, south of Brisbane and forms the northern end of Gold Coast. The island ...
. The GCSMP will examine whether 20% of the sand could instead be backpassed sustainably to the beaches of Surfers Paradise
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...
to mitigate the impact of climate change
The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice (glaciers), sea level ...
.
Prior to stabilisation of the Gold Coast Seaway the island welding hypothesis suggests that up to 20% of all sand moving along the Gold Coast (Longshore drift
Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle incoming wave direction ...
) entered the Gold Coast Broadwater
The Gold Coast Broadwater, also known as Southport Broadwater, Gold Coast Harbour and The Broadwater, is a large shallow estuary of water located in the district of South East Queensland, Australia. The estuary reaches from the locality of in ...
to gradually weld islands onto the mainland.
Narrowneck Reef
In 1971 the Dutch University Delft completed a report for the Queensland State Government recommending the construction of a groyne
A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concre ...
at Narrowneck. The Council examined the idea of a groyne and instead constructed an artificial reef
An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing.
Many re ...
to stabilise the foreshore at Narrowneck. So far the reef has worked well as a coastal control point, but has been disappointing in its secondary objective to improve surfing. A surprising benefit of the Narrowneck Reef has been its ability to attract marine growth and reef fish and is now a popular diving and fishing location. Narrowneck is particularly popular for kite surfing
Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wa ...
and longboarding
Longboarding is typically defined as a variation of skateboarding that involves a larger board and softer urethane wheels. Longboards vary in shape and size. Compared to skateboards, longboards are more stable at speed and have more traction, due ...
.
Kurrawa Park Reef
The Narrowneck Reef was constructed as a coastal control point 1/3 of the way between Burleigh Heads
Burleigh Heads is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Burleigh Heads had a population of 10,077 people.
Geography
Burleigh Head is a cape () jutting into the Coral Sea at the northern mouth of Tallebudgera Cre ...
and the Gold Coast Seaway. The GCSMP will examine if a new reef at Kurrawa Park should be constructed at the 2/3s position to assist with the adaption of Gold Coast beaches to climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
.
Palm Beach Protection Strategy
In 2004 Gold Coast City Council proposed a new beach protection scheme for Palm Beach which included a new reef for 21st Avenue Palm Beach. The proposed scheme included 3 reefs and beach nourishment
Beach nourishment (also referred to as beach renourishment, beach replenishment, or sand replenishment) describes a process by which sediment, usually sand, lost through longshore drift or erosion is replaced from other sources. A wider beach ca ...
. Some in the community didn't like the idea and organised a "no reef" protest campaign that prevented the scheme being implemented.
Currumbin Alley
Council dredges Currumbin Creek
The Currumbin Creek is a creek located in South East Queensland, Australia. Its catchment lies within the Gold Coast local government area and covers an area of . The river is approximately in length and provides a popular and tranquil setting ...
each year.
Southern Points
The Southern Points of the Gold Coast are northern facing and provide spectacular coastal vistas and great surf.
Kirra Point
A popular surfing site, surfers are concerned that sand is drowning quality surf, but there is debate about the objectivity of perception of impacts. Council is undertaking nourishment of the foreshore to bury the seawall to increase the amount of recreational parkland.
Greenmount Point
Surfing waves break along a sand bank that extends from Snapper Rocks
Snapper Rocks is a small rocky outcrop on the northern side of Point Danger, NSW/Queensland, Point Danger at the southern end of Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is a famous surfing, surf break and ...
through Rainbow Bay
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
, past Greenmount point and Coolangatta
Coolangatta is a coastal suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It is the Gold Coast's southernmost suburb and it borders New South Wales. In the , Coolangatta had a population of 5,948 people.
Geography
Coolangatta and its ...
, then to Kirra. This region has been called the Superbank
Snapper Rocks
Surfers lobbied to have the sand outlet moved to improve the Surf at Snapper Rocks
Tweed River Entrance Sandbypassing
A sand bypassing system commenced operating to deliver sand across the Tweed River from New South Wales
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, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
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, es ...
to Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
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in 2001.
Gold Coast Oceanway
The Gold Coast Oceanway
The Gold Coast Oceanway is a foreshoreway for use by pedestrians and cyclists along the Gold Coast, Queensland, connecting the Point Danger lighthouse on the New South Wales and Queensland border to the Gold Coast Seaway. The network includes ...
is a network of pathways along Gold Coast beaches that encourages healthier and more sustainable
Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...
coastal lifestyles
Lifestyle often refers to:
* Lifestyle (sociology), the way a person lives
* ''Otium'', ancient Roman concept of a lifestyle
* Style of life (german: Lebensstil, link=no), dealing with the dynamics of personality
Lifestyle may also refer to:
Bus ...
.
See also
References
{{reflist
External links
Tweed River Entrance Sand Bypassing Project
Gold Coastal Beach Cameras
Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan
Gold Coast, Queensland
Natural resource management
Coastline of Queensland
Urban planning in Australia