The owners of an emerging multimillion-dollar marina have expressed their concerns for Pumicestone Passage and are calling for action.
Officials from Pelican Waters Marina urged levels of government to address a build-up of sand and potential water quality issues, following a breakthrough at Bribie Island.
Renewed calls for dredging, from community groups, were rejected earlier this month by Maritime Safety Queensland, because of costs and the likelihood the area would quickly refill with sand.
READ A RELATED STORY: Left high and dry by dredging decision.
General Manager of Development for Pelican Waters, Hamish Pressland – the man responsible for delivering the successful roll out of developed land across Pelican Waters – said it was at least worth trialling.
“To sort out this in the short term we need agility and flexibility between decision makers in government rather than putting it all in the too hard basket,” he said.
“Dredging the secondary channel may or may not work but it’s worth a try and there are only a couple of areas that require this to happen.
“To do nothing could mean the passage at the northern end becomes a dangerous waterway because the Coast Guard can’t do its job properly or the water quality could deteriorate so much that it becomes stagnant and uninviting.
“Imagine what that would do to Sunshine Coast tourism and all the businesses and those families who live on the coast that rely on our magnificent waterways to live their lives.”
At this stage, the marina exit to the passage and ocean is clear but there is a build-up of sand further north in the passage, enroute to Caloundra.
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Pelican Waters Marina is the owner and developer of the $20m marina. It is a joint venture between Pelican Waters Heart Pty Ltd, the current land developer of Pelican Waters, and Les Binkin and his business partner the Suprain Family.
The marina is expected to be completed in February and it will include pontoons, a boat storage facility and tenancies.
“This is the first dry boat storage facility on the Sunshine Coast ever,” Mr Pressland said.
State Member for Caloundra Jason Hunt, who arranged a meeting between stakeholders in October, said managing the waterway was a balancing act between people and nature.
“We will adjust how we use the Pumicestone Passage as we always have, but we need to protect it as much as possible so that we can keep enjoying it,” he said.
“There is a desire from some community groups and recreational clubs to monitor the use of the passage, the water flow and to protect and enhance navigation access, especially for our Coast Guard Flotilla QF4.
“I’ll be doing everything I can to try to meet those expectations. The difficulty is that Mother Nature will certainly have her say as well and to some extent she will have the final word.
“I’m waiting for the outcome of a study into the possible causes of the breakthrough to discover if there are any human contributions.
“Then it will be a case of monitoring the sand flow and investigating what can be done to mitigate the natural movement of the sand and its effect on navigation and water flow.”
MSQ General Manager Kell Dillon said dredging could be futile.
“Given the dynamic nature of the environment, particularly with the change in wave action following winter, any works such as dredging carries a high risk of sand refilling the works in a short time,” he said.
“On this basis, no works are recommended until a clear understanding of the likely outcome is known.”
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