First reported in Quarry on 10 October, the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) began dumping 13,500 tonnes of quarried sand onto Half Moon Bay, only to halt the project following community outrage.
After an urgent investigation into the move, the Environment Minister Ryan Smith was forced to scrap the project altogether, to the jubilation of locals.
The affair, however, has come at a cost of $90,000 to the taxpayer.
The plan was part of an $8 million beach renourishment project entitled Enhancing Our Beaches.
Sand was delivered from a Gippsland quarry to the popular beach in Black Rock but Sandringham community members complained that they hadn?t been properly consulted about the plan and that the sand being used to renourish the beach was really just ?red dirt.?
Sandringham Foreshore Association’s Vicki Karalis told The Age the department held a single public meeting about the plan. She told the paper she was concerned that the sand, sourced from a Gippsland quarry after a tender process, was an eyesore and could affect marine life.
”Usually we’re in favour of beaches having good sand renourishment but in this case there was no evidence of erosion and no justification for this,” said Karalis.
The Environment Minister is denying that the bungle was his fault, communicating through a spokesperson that the Department was to blame.
”The department should have thoroughly investigated the need for additional sand on the beach prior to delivery of the sand,” the spokesperson told The Age.
Workers will begin removing the 1800 Gippsland sand from the beach, which will be delivered to other beaches in need of renourishment.
SOURCE: The Age
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