Sandbag strategy leaves an Australian beach's future living on the edge

Kelsey Munro in the Sydney Morning Herald: Emergency work to prevent further coastal erosion at the northern NSW town of Kingscliff has been stalled by red tape, with council staff warning many more seaside communities will face the same problem unless the complex coastal protection laws are streamlined.



Kingscliff has lost an estimated 40 metres of beach to the sea in less than two months, leaving the surf club and cabins at a caravan park dangling at the edge of the water. But protection works must stop by Friday because NSW legislation requires the council to go through a public tender process to procure more sandbags.



The council-owned Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park has already spent $800,000 on temporary protection works, and is building a four metre-high sandbag wall along the most damaged sections of beach. Phase two, for which they have environmental approval, requires larger, more durable sandbags but the council must cease work for at least a week for the procurement process.



Richard Adams, who runs the park for Tweed Shire, said the situation was ''frustrating''. ''In an emergency event like this, where clearly there is an extenuating circumstance, it would be great if we could go to the government and say let's look at some way to relieve us from some of the more protracted planning consent and procurement issues,'' he said....



A view of the Cocked Hat Rocks at Broken Head (NSW, Australia)

Mandurah's climate change challenge

Andrew O'Connor in ABC News (Australia): It was a grim warning that placed Mandurah on the leading edge of a change that could radically reshape one of the nation's fastest-growing seaside communities. Climate change not coming to Western Australia - it's already here.



The Climate Commission's travelling roadshow, led by former Australian of the Year Tim Flannery, rolled through the South West armed with a new report and a clear message - we must act now. The report, "The Critical Decade", condensed existing research and focused solely on the impact of climate change on Western Australia.



...For coastal communities the most ominous of the report's statements was about rising sea levels which it says "will exacerbate existing vulnerability to flooding and beach erosion." According to Climate Commission member, Professor Lesley Hughes, that rise, which is happening worldwide, is happening relatively quickly.



...With large areas of development in low lying areas, Mandurah is particularly vulnerable to erosion and flooding. One person who is not alarmed is the city's mayor Paddi Creevey whose council has already spent years preparing to weather whatever storms climate change may bring. "There's nothing to panic about, we are very much open for business but we will be well-prepared," she said.



The City of Mandurah has largely sidestepped the controversy and politics of climate change, instead focussing on the practical, local steps it can take to prepare for any contingency. Ms Creevey says that work started in 2007 and has included a range of vulnerability assessments and other measures.



"We've had our staff working in collaboration with universities, CSIRO and other places," she said. "We've done a vulnerability assessment to understand for ourselves where we need to pay attention and we've been working closely with the state and commonwealth departments to really try to make ourselves ready and, importantly, to educate our community for what we will need to face."...



Port Bouvard Bridge over the Dawesville Channel south of Mandurah, Western Australia, shot by Orderinchaos, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license

Western Australia coastal towns among most at risk in the world

Courtney Trenwith in the Sydney Morning Herald: Towns along Western Australia's coastline are among the most susceptible to climate change in the world with the areas of Mandurah, Busselton, Rockingham and Bunbury under particular threat of flooding and coastal erosion, a new Climate Commission report reveals. The report estimates between 18,700 and 28,900 residential buildings – worth up to $7.7 billion - are at risk of inundation due to rising sea levels.



A further 2100 commercial buildings – more than in all other states – and up to 9100 kilometres of roadway along the coast of the state are also under threat. "A sea-level rise of 50 centimetres will lead to very large increases in the frequency of coastal flooding; flooding that is currently considered a one-in-100 year event would occur every year in most parts of WA and even more frequently in Perth," the report says.



"Flooding events are likely to damage cities, towns and the supporting infrastructure in low-lying coastal areas and will lead to erosion of sandy beaches." Sea levels along the WA west coast have been rising about double the global average since 1990, at between 7.1 millimetres and 7.4 millimetres per year, according to the commission....



Northern suburbs of Perth on the western Australia coast, from NASA

Call it checkmate at Camden

Call it checkmate at Camden and Narellan libraries
18 Jul 11 @ 04:04pm by DENNIS CLOUGH

A MIX of master and beginners chess players are making their move to Camden and Narellan libraries.

Camden Library has begun operating a chess club on Wednesdays from 10am to 1pm, and Narellan Library chess club is on Wednesdays from 4pm to 6pm.

Library services manager Kathryn Baget-Juleff said the Camden club was attracting about 10 players each week while Narellan was attracting about six.

She said players of all skill levels were welcome.

“Camden chess players are experienced, but welcome beginners and they are happy to coach new players,” she said. “At Camden, we have a volunteer who co-ordinates the group. Camden’s group has people of all ages, mainly retired males. Narellan’s group is made up more of young people, again predominantly male.”

The clubs started in February after public requests for chess boards at the libraries.

Mt Annan chess player Robert Bee said he was grateful for the opportunity to play. “What is great about the club is its friendliness and willingness to help beginners,” he said.

Contact Camden Library on 4654 7951 or Narellan on 4645 5039.

Source: http://macarthur-chronicle-camden.whereilive.com.au