A section of beach that was closed after the discovery of asbestos will be reopened in time for the school holidays.
The area, adjacent to Nelson St at Golden Beach, was fenced in January after material containing asbestos and other hazardous waste, including glass and uncontrolled fill, were exposed at the eastern end of Onslow Street (also known as TS Onslow Australian Navy Cadets) and started making its way onto the beach adjacent to Nelson St.
The TS Onslow site is owned by the Queensland Government and leased by the Navy Cadets and a sailing club. The beach opposite Nelson St is managed by council and it was closed due to asbestos from the TS Onlsow site washing up onto the beach.
Sunshine Coast Division 2 Councillor Terry Landsberg said council had worked hard behind the scenes to get the area of beach reopened as quickly as possible.
“Council is partnering with the Queensland Government on a long-term solution, however, the work to permanently resolve the asbestos issue may take some time,” he said via a council media release.
“Meanwhile, the waves and tides continue to erode the TS Onslow site, with more asbestos migrating north to the closed section of beach.
“As protecting our community and our environment is our highest priority, council has continued to clean up any loose fragments of material while also looking at options to remove the fencing and reopen the beach adjacent to Nelson Street.
“Following advice from an asbestos management consultant, council has aimed to control the asbestos through installing geofabric along the bank and completing a sand nourishment campaign.
“This involved placing geofabric on the eroding bank first and then using a dredge to place sand onto the geofabric at the TS Onslow site to stop the asbestos becoming loose and moving to the Nelson St beach.
“After this, council monitored the area for four weeks to see if it stopped the asbestos migrating onto the Nelson St beach.
“We are pleased to report this has worked and the beach will be reopened on Friday, June 16, with the fencing removed.”
The fence at the TS Onslow site will remain in place based on Queensland Government advice, with planning underway for a more permanent repair.
Council will continue to monitor the area for signs of asbestos and will do more dredging if needed.
The works were completed under Council’s dredging contract and funded by the Queensland Government’s Disaster Resilience Funding.
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