Councillor David Warth has brought a controversial notice of motion (NOM) to the upcoming Byron Shire Council (BSC) meeting that seeks to investigate opening a channel from the Billinudgel Nature Reserve to the ocean.
This is based on the fact that during the development of Ocean Shores and South Golden Beach, a drainage channel was built through the dunes located to the north of Fern Beach. The developers were required to reinstate the dune system and the track to Wooyoung on completion of the development. While the track is no longer used by vehicles, it is a well-known and well-used walking and biking track for many locals.
The ocean outlet proposal has been put forward multiple times by Ocean Shores Community Association (OSCA), but is only one of several options to investigate that have been put forward by the Marshalls Creek Flood Forum (MCFF), which includes the South Golden Beach Community Association (SGBCA), the New Brighton Village Association (NBVA), as well as OSCA.
In early February, the MCFF agreed to list the idea of openings through coastal dunes as one of several ideas that should be examined as part of the next floodplain management process that is run jointly by state and local governments. The other ideas listed were: ‘diminish rock walls at Readings Bay to encourage lowering of the sandy bed of Marshalls Creek upstream; other dredging options (potentially with coastal beach nourishment); detention of flood water upstream of Billinudgel to lower peak flows downstream; adequate budgeting for effective ongoing maintenance of levees, drains, culverts and flapvalves.’
According to Matthew Lambourne, who has been on Council’s floodplain committee for 28 years, prior to development the area where the South Golden Beach drainage canal was built was a huge wetland with no direct opening to the ocean.
‘The area that they broke through was described as having never been dry in history. It was an area where water had lain four feet deep,’ he explained.
‘That implies it was a wetland area that didn’t have a low-level drainage and held water in normal conditions, and only overflowed in the north or south in flood times. When flooding, a lot of the water would have gone north to Billinudgel Creek and Mooball Creek, and the rest would have gone south into Marshalls Creek.’
The BSC are not able to approve any ocean opening in a nature reserve because the area is managed by a number of state bodies, including National Parks.
‘There have been three or four previous rounds of investigations into an ocean opening under the state system,’ said local hydrologist and former BSC councillor Duncan Dey.
‘All of them examined the idea of removing dunes to let water pass through. All of them advised against cutting through the dunes. This is because (a) ocean water will sometimes flow inland despite proponents’ belief that water will only travel outwards; (b) the dune would have to be scraped down by excavator when rain fell and restored after the flood – no agency can ask a machine operator to put themselves at peril to do this; and (c) the agency that calls the shots then carries the liability for a bad call and no public servant will take that risk.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
