MORE physical action is needed to address erosion problems at Loch Sport instead of studies and designs, community members say.
State Member for Gippsland South Danny O’Brien said the state government had spent half a million dollars on surveys, risk assessments, designs and funding agreements for the erosion problem at Loch Sport but delivered no physical action despite promising ‘immediate works’ more than two years ago.
Mr O’Brien said he had been working with the community for many years to get action on erosion of the Lake Victoria foreshore and was frustrated at the government’s “dithering”.
In response to a question on notice in state parliament, Mr O’Brien has been advised $400,000 allocated by the government for works two years ago, had become $500,000 and had been fully expended with zero physical work actually undertaken.
“The local community and I are fed up with ongoing reports, surveys and consultancies when everybody knows the solution to Loch Sport’s erosion problems is more groynes,” he said.
“The government was clearly told this in 2022 when it released a key report on the erosion problem.
“That it has taken another two years and it has still not actually done any works on the ground is a disgrace. Instead we see items like $43,000 spent on a ‘landslide risk assessment’ for one of the sand dunes.”
Mr O’Brien said the erosion on the Lake Victoria foreshore had now got so bad the Seagull Drive boat ramp car park was being eaten away and a “hare-brained idea to relocate the foreshore walking track has attracted scorn from locals”.
“Current Minister for Environment, Steve Dimopoulos, has at least seen the problem first-hand and I’m optimistic he is trying to get action underway, but two years after former minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced the $400,000 to ‘undertake immediate works’ nothing has been done,” he said.
“If we are to take the government at its word we now have multiple options, assessments and detailed designs, including for groynes in the Seagull Drive and High Dune Bluff area but we haven’t got the money for it to actually happen.
“The time for talk, surveys, consultation and the like is over. We need action.
“The government has spent half a million dollars of taxpayers’ money and not done anything to fix the problem. They now need to get on with it and address this issue once and for all.”
In his response to Mr O’Brien’s question, Minister Dimopoulos said the government’s current focus was to implement the immediate and short-term actions outlined in the 2022 Loch Sport Foreshore Coastal Processes and Options Assessment report.
“This report was released at a community consultation event in October 2022 and outlined immediate, short-term and medium-term recommendations,” the minister responded.
“Government priority is the implementation of the sand renourishment and groyne construction to mitigate immediate risks. Long-term adaption planning will be considered alongside community and land manager consultation.”
Frustration about inaction can be seen in the issue about the relocation of a foreshore walking path.
The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action is replacing the current path, which has been affected by erosion. The new path is being constructed on top of a nearby cliff.
Some residents claim the money would be better spent on dealing with the erosion, instead of a new path.
Resident Eileen Patchell, a former member of the foreshore committee, said the new path was “ridiculous”, and that the community had labelled it the “goat track” as people would traverse it with “great difficulty”.
“No-one will use it,” Ms Patchell told the Gippsland Times.
Ms Patchell recently walked the area planned for the path with seven DEECA representatives, and provided them with local perspectives. Ms Patchell said the DEECA staff wouldn’t listen, and are going ahead with the project, despite some local opposition.
“DEECA are building a path that could be washed away before doing anything to mitigate the erosion,” she said.
Ms Patchell said the erosion was ongoing and getting worse, and groynes, as a mitigative solution, should have been in place for 20 years.
A DEECA spokesperson told the Gippsland Times designs for the walking track retreat were provided to the Loch Sport Foreshore Committee of Management in September 2023, which replicates the existing track.
“In response to safety concerns with the track’s current lay-out, designs position the pathway further up the dune,” the spokesperson said.
“DEECA dedicated $30,000 to the committee in May 2024 based on the quotes that were obtained.
“We will continue to work closely with the committee on the proposed design. However, if prevailing community sentiment is that the track is not viable, the use of the $30,000 can be revised.”
DEECA has co-contributed $200,000 for sand nourishment at Seagull Drive via a Victorian Common Funding Agreement with Gippsland Ports which is currently undertaking planning for these works.
Since 2022, DEECA has invested more than $300,000 – including design works for the recommendations in the 2022 Loch Sport Coastal Processes Options Assessment, as well as the $200,000 co-contribution for Seagull Drive sand renourishment.
