A SAND replenishment program will start at the popular Wilson Esplanade area, Victoria Point, in the new financial year.
Redland City councillor Lance Hewlett said the beach had lost sand over many years, one of a number of sites in the Redlands where usable beach space had been reduced.
Residents had asked council not to put a rock wall in place, fearing that it would destroy the area’s aesthetics.
“We’re trying to embrace the bay and people want more sandy beaches and less rock walls,’’ Cr Hewlett said.
We’re trying to embrace the bay and people want more sandy beaches and less rock walls
- Lance Hewlett
“People are here all the time. They bring their toddler down to the beach and drag small dinghies straight on to the sand.’’
Cr Hewlett said erosion was not overly aggressive and, with hindsight, developments allowed on old farmland decades ago should have been set back from beaches, allowing for more parks, wider foreshores and places for cafes.
He said that years ago people had not valued foreshores, sometimes making them dumping grounds as had occurred at the nearby Les Moore Park.
Replenishment work would first be done in the Wilson Esplanade area near Barron and Hatchman streets.
A report to councillors said a rock seawall option would provide the highest protection and was the most costly option at $348,000. Sand replenishment costs ranged from $164,000 to $236,000 over 50 years.
"However, there is a risk that severe weather events may remove the sand from the foreshore, requiring higher frequency of re-nourishment,'' the report says.
Costs of beach nourishment occurring at five-yearly intervals were about $54,000.
Council put a variety of options in face-to-face and online surveys to residents about what type of beach protection should happen at the site, ranging from sand pumping to a rock seawall.
Most residents believed sand replenishment and a rock wall would do the job but 86 per cent were against the hard engineering option of a sea wall, finding it to be "aesthetic vandalism''.
A survey found that the bulk of residents used the area for exercise, walking the dog or other recreation.
Cr Hewlett said such low key beach areas were highly valued by the community and people even drove from Brisbane to allow toddlers to wade at such safe beaches.
