Urgent works to combat erosion at Mettams Pool

The City of Stirling will begin urgent sand nourishment treatments at Mettams Pool from tonight to ensure visitors can enjoy the popular beach during the Easter school holidays.

Coastal erosion is an issue facing many coastal local governments, which requires significant funding support from all levels of government to put in place long-term adaption measures.

In response to community feedback and as a short-term measure to combat the impacts of coastal erosion, up to 2000 cubic metres of sand will be used to nourish the beach at Mettams Pool.

The opportunity to appropriately source sand only became available to the City on Thursday 25 March, and recognising the importance of our beach environment, the City moved quickly to capitalise on the opportunity. To ensure the safety of beach users, works will be undertaken at night.

Mayor Mark Irwin said the City was looking forward to enabling people to access a sandy beach at Mettams Pool during April once the treatments were implemented.

“Coastal erosion is an issue facing many local governments and this is a priority for the City, which is why we allocated $350,000 in our 2020/21 budget for adaptation planning,” he said.

“While we understand the sand nourishment will require the beach to be closed for a few days, we will be undertaking night works to minimise disruption and we hope the community will be pleased to see further treatments being applied to Mettams Pool to combat erosion.

“For the best chance of success with the sand nourishment, we are completing the works in late March as coastal adaptation actions are most effective when delivered outside of the winter period.”

The works will adhere to all noise provisions and will occur between 7pm and 5am from Monday 29 March. They are expected to be completed on Thursday 1 April.

Traffic management will be in place and local traffic access to properties will be maintained.

As trucks will transport the sand from Hillarys via Marmion Avenue and Karrinyup Road to Saunders Street carpark, visitors are encouraged to avoid the area where possible at night.

While the sand nourishment works are being implemented, Mettams Pool and the Saunders Street carpark will be closed. The City apologises for any inconvenience caused during the works.

Image: Coastal erosion at Mettams Pool.