The only way to restore the beach at Belongil, and save what is left of it at the end of the wall, as well as the shorebird nesting area, is to implement planned retreat by insisting that the extensive unlawful rock and rubble works be removed. Rather than being caught between a rock and a hard place, the beach system will then be able to move as the seas rise and the coast erodes.
It was always silly to build on an eroding sand spit and that is why Council decided over 25 years ago to not defend the houses and adopted planned retreat. Now that we know that global warming is happening, and the seas are rising at an accelerating rate, it is the height of stupidity for this council to abandon planned retreat and construct their own rock walls.
I am disgusted that my rates are helping to destroy a beach and an important bird-nesting and -roosting area for the benefit of a few landowners who bought on the basis of planned retreat. The beach is worth far more to this community, visitors, nesting turtles and shorebirds than a few houses.
Byron Shire councillors who support this should be ashamed that this is contrary to the Local Environment Plan and Development Control Plan and yet they won’t let ratepayers have a say in it.
Dailan Pugh, Byron Bay
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