The City of Cockburn's response to the Fremantle Herald re: Coastal erosion at C. Y. O'Connor Beach, 30.6.20 -
Question: I noticed on a visit to South Beach/CY O’Connor Beach on the weekend that the erosion is again threatening the shared use path, being just a couple of metres away from where the dunes have been undermined.
I was wondering if the City had been looking at it recently and whether there were any management plans being produced, or already followed. Also whether the City had been lobbying the State Government, as has Fremantle, for a contribution towards the costs of maintaining the beaches?
Answer: The City has recently completed
community consultation to gauge local residents’ visions and values for C. Y. O’Connor Beach as part of a larger project to find long-term solutions to the effects of ongoing erosion at the popular beach.
We asked users to tell us what they most valued about the beach, and what they wanted to see protected. Some top activities included walking and jogging, swimming and dog-related activities. See a snap shot of the results of this consultation
here.
Between October and December 2019 more than 681 people visited the Comment on Cockburn page to learn about this project. 329 people shared their feedback by completing the survey, contributing to the discussion board, chatting to our project team at the C.Y. O’Connor Beach workshop or pop-up sessions, or writing to us.
The City has engaged engineers specialising in coastal erosion to complete further research and assess this section of the coast. With their expertise and community feedback, they will develop draft concept designs for erosion protection, on which the community will be able to provide future feedback.
Following the recent major storm impacts, a risk assessment was carried out and the section of shared path just south of Rollinson Road nearest to the most severely eroded beach dune was fenced off to prevent pedestrian access. Warning signage was also provided. This safety measure will stay in place until the area is made safe by reinstatement works on the seaward side of the shared path.
The City has been exploring all funding sources for coastal protection works from State and Federal Governments for many years.