The state government has unveiled a bold $20 million “emergency intervention” package to tackle erosion and protect communities affected by changes to Bribie Island.
The “urgent” works include closing recent tidal breakthroughs and creating a sandbank and a temporary channel in the Pumicestone Passage.
The funding comes in response to recommendations from coastal engineering experts, commissioned by the Department of State Development Infrastructure and Planning in April, as part of the Bribie Island Breakthrough Review.
Initial investigations indicated about 100,000 cubic metres of sand would be required to infill two breakthroughs that occurred following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred earlier this year.
Since the first breakthrough in 2022, a range of impacts to Pumicestone Passage, including the closure of the Caloundra Bar, have become evident.
Tidal levels have risen within the channel, with associated increases in water levels during high tides and storm events, and wave energy penetration has increased, causing ongoing shoreline erosion on the island and on the mainland, sediment redistribution and stress to seagrass and mangrove habit.
In a report prepared for the government, by independent expert consultants RPS AAP Consulting Pty Ltd (RPS) in partnership with International Coastal Management (ICM), four immediate interventions were recommended:
- Closure of breakthroughs two and three
- Buffering of the island segment between breakthroughs two and three
- Construction of an inner sandbank inside breakthrough one, to reduce wave energy entering the passage
- Creating temporary channel and maintaining it from breakthrough one to the northern end of the passage
The actions are aimed to mitigate ongoing damage to foreshore assets and infrastructure, improve water quality and navigational safety, and provide interim protection while longer-term strategies are developed and assessed.
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The independent review will now consider longer-term solutions, ahead of a final report later this year.
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the funding was the first step in the government’s commitment to protect residents at risk.
“We promised the Caloundra community we would get to work on this urgently, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he said.
“The funding will be used to pump sand into the breakthroughs, close the most recent gaps, and create sacrificial dunes to limit the impact of future erosion activity.
“Caloundra residents are rightly concerned about community impacts and we are taking swift action to ensure they are protected.
“Without intervention, this remaining section of island may be lost entirely, potentially leading to significant further change in coastal processes and heightened infrastructure risk on the passage foreshore.
“The experts have advised this work will likely take a minimum of five months from commencement so I have asked my department to urgently start procurement action so we can get this underway.”
Member for Caloundra Kendall Morton welcomed the swift action.
“As a community, we’ve fought hard to highlight the concerning impact we’re living through every day,” she said.
She said the state government had “heard the calls for action, and we are working with the experts and implementing solutions”.
