Yamba Coastal Study Background Reading

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Study Background

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Study Background

The foreshores of Yamba, to the south of the Clarence River entrance, are an extremely popular and highly prized coastal feature. The area has a thriving tourist industry, which depends on the natural beauty of the area, including the natural sandy beaches and surrounding waterways.

In the past, there have been pressures on this recreational resource from both the natural processes of erosion and shoreline slope instability and from man-made activities including development, heavy mineral extraction and the entrance breakwater construction.

In the early 1980s, detailed studies of the foreshore stability and the coastal processes were undertaken for the Yamba Waters tourist development that was proposed for the foreshores between Angourie Point and Barri Point. Those investigations were undertaken by the then Coastal Engineering Branch of the NSW Department of Public Works under the supervision of Mr Doug Lord.

Mr Lord is nominated as the MHL Project Director for the Yamba Coastal Study. While the 1984 study included extensive offshore investigation and sediment mapping, together with a detailed assessment of the onshore quaternary geology, only limited photogrammetric survey assessment of the historical shoreline changes and assessment of beach stability within the study area was possible at that time. The offshore data and process understanding from that study will set the framework from which this study will be developed. Our understanding will be updated using the more recent data gathered, and techniques developed during the intervening 15 years.

The study area comprises the northern section of Pippi Beach (north of Barri Point), and the three smaller pocket beaches north of Yamba Headland and south of the Clarence River entrance. It includes the foreshores and the hinterland adjacent to the beaches. One of the main issues relevent to the study area is coastal erosion and slope instability affecting Yamba Main Beach and adjoining headlands.

As part of this management process Maclean Shire Council (MSC) has commissioned the NSW Department of Public Works and Services' Manly Hydraulics Laboratory (MHL) to undertake The Yamba Coastal Study. This project is being jointly funded by MSC and the Department of Environment and Climate Change.

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Project Brief

The Yamba Coastline Management Plan is part of an ongoing commitment by MSC and DECC to address the identified problems and manage the coastal areas for the whole community.

Specifically, this project will comprise:

Stage One - Data Review, Coastal Processes Study and Hazard Definition
Stage Two - Coastal Management Study
Stage Three - Draft Coastal Management Plan

The initial step in the coastal management process was the formation by Maclean Shire Council of a Coastal Committee, which is chaired by a Local Councillor. The composition of the committee has been determined by Council to address the specific issues and problems of the study area and also includes representatives from State Government Departments alongside local resident and community interest groups.

The first stage of this study comprises a comprehensive technical assessment of the coastal processes (based primarily on existing process data) that affect the study area. The assessment incorporates the compilation and detailed review of historic photogrammetric data, including more recent information not included in the original assessment. Stage One will also include identification, quantification and evaluation of coastal hazards and their impacts for nominated planning periods. The outcome will be a comprehensive conceptual model of the sediment budget, slope instabilities and coastal processes within the study area.

Stages Two & Three will develop and evaluate the various management options and recommend a final strategy for the future management of the coastline.

The Study Team

Coastal processes studies, management studies and the preparation of the management plan & strategies require a multidisciplinary approach with input from a number of professional areas. MHL provides the necessary experience and expertise for these studies with almost fifty years of experience in coastline management. MSC has commissioned a team of specialist consultants directed by MHL who have the necessary experience in their respective fields to address each of the study components. Aspects of the study will include:

project management;
coastal processes;
geomechanics and geomorphology;
erosion and sedimentation;
evaluation of nourishment options;
legislative requirements;
hydrodynamics and hydrology;
water and sediment quality;
aquatic and fringing terrestrial ecology;
waterway usage;
planning, land and foreshore usage; and
community consultation.

Members of the project team include:

Doug Lord (MHL) - Project Director
Bruce Walker (Jeffrey & Katauskas) - Geotechnical Engineer
Linton Speechley (Jeffrey & Katauskas) - Geotechnical Engineer
Stephen Fletcher (Southern Cross University) - Consultation and Planning
John Willoughby (Archaeology)

Study Objectives

The objectives as stated in the brief from MSC are to develop a coastline management plan for the Yamba coastline area. The plan is to be prepared in accordance with the NSW Government Coastline Management Manual and the principles and objectives of the 1997 NSW Coastal Policy. The primary objectives of the management plan are:

to protect, rehabilitate and improve the natural environment of Yamba’s coastline;
to manage the impact of slope instability on the foreshore reserve lands and private property at Yamba Main Beach;
to reduce the impact of coastline hazards on private property and foreshore reserve lands and to reduce private and public losses resulting from natural coastal forces;
to recognise and accommodate natural processes and climate change in the planning and management of the Yamba coastline area;
to ensure ecologically sustainable development and use of the Yamba coastline;
to provide for appropriate public access, amenity and use; and
to provide for integrated planning and management of the Yamba coastline area.

The investigations proposed by MHL are to be undertaken in accordance with the NSW Coastal Policy and the requirements of the NSW Government Coastline Management Manual.