Works underway to protect the Stirling coastline

14 September 2020

The City of Stirling is taking action to address the impacts of localised coastal erosion at some of the most prominent local beach areas. The City’s immediate focus is to protect and preserve the current coastal environment at priority areas, particularly Mettams Pool and Watermans Bay.

This financial year, the City will invest more than $600,000 in coastal erosion treatments and this information outlines the immediate actions planned to address the current impacts of coastal erosion in these two areas. 

Mettams Pool

Protection of Mettams Pool remains a key focus for the City. A major storm in May 2020 caused further erosion to the beach and its dune system, resulting in restricted access to the beach.

The City has scheduled repairs to the main stairs (adjacent to the toilet block) in spring to allow for better weather conditions. To maintain a safe accessible beach environment at Mettams Pool, the City plans to carry out the following actions:

  • The Northern Stairs (Photo 1 below) are structurally sound, however the City will be completing works to secure and improve the safety of the handrail. These works will be completed by October 2020 and the temporary mesh will remain in place until then.

Photo 1 - The northern stairs

  • By October 2020, we will temporarily strengthen the main stairs (Photo 2 below) adjacent to the public toilets by affixing them to rock below. These stairs will maintain beach access until the City can replace the main ramp (Photo 3 below), which has deteriorated over the years
  • The City is in the process of designing the new ramp and expects to advertise these works for tender in December 2020. Pending contractor availability, works are expected to get underway during February 2021
  • Once the ramp is replaced, it will provide the primary access point for the toilet block, and we plan to remove these stairs as the new ramp will offer better overall access to the beach.

Photo 2 - The main stairs with the access ramp in the background

Photo 3 - Access ramp to be replaced

  • Replace the Saunders Street southern carpark stairs with a ramp to allow for beach access for vehicles and beachgoers. The ramp is required to support the planned sand nourishment of Mettams Pool. Works to design the ramp are currently underway. Removal of the steps and construction of the ramp is scheduled to be completed in March 2021. During construction works, beachgoers can use the nearby Saunders Street central carpark steps down to the beach
  • Undertake sand nourishment works at Mettams Pool to help offset the loss of sand from this important beach environment. The current proposal is to use the new beach access ramp from the Saunders Street car park to complete the sand nourishment works. This measure is designed to mitigate further loss of sand and embankment erosion at the beach, which will be important to provide greater protection to the existing infrastructure, better stability and an improved beach environment. The City is in the process of planning these works, which are set to go ahead during late summer and early autumn.

In 2019, the City gathered feedback on what the community valued about Mettams Pool, its facilities and amenity via an online survey and later hosted a community forum. The proposed works at Mettams Beach are consistent with and address the values of a natural beach environment clearly expressed during that consultation.

The results will also be incorporated into an upcoming coastal values consultation process that will take a broader look at the City’s entire stretch of coastline. This forthcoming consultation will guide the City’s long term plans to preserve our local coastline areas.

Watermans Bay

For more than a decade, the City has worked to safeguard coastline areas in Watermans Bay. Coastal adaptation measures have included the introduction of a ‘soft rock’ seawall using Geotextile Sand Containers (GSC) as well as the reinforcement of nearby access stairs. As the long-established GSCs were damaged during the major storm in May, the City will be arranging a contractor to repair the seawall by October 2020.

For more information, visit the Managing Coastal Erosion at Mettams Pool page.

Social Media Share this articleLinks below open in a new window

Back to news