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Perth Now
30-07-2025
- Climate
- Perth Now
Fresh fears for coastal town on the brink
Residents in a beachside South Australian town may see their homes wiped out entirely as erosion eats up the sea walls, threatening to swallow houses next. Living on the edge of the water, Pelican Point residents have installed sea walls outside their homes as the water slowly closes in. One report suggests there is a 50 per cent chance the town could be wiped off the map by 2100 as the council drafts up a strategy to keep the buildings safe from erosion. The council reported there was a 50 per cent chance the town could be washed away as sea levels rise. Supplied Credit: Supplied Some households have resorted to building sea walls in front of their properties – some of which were first built more than 30 years ago – to stop the erosion in its tracks, the ABC reports. However, these homemade sea walls are on Crown Land and were not approved by the District Council of Grant, which filed legal action against the walls. The council eventually changed its tune and dropped the lawsuit in 2017 due to rising legal fees. Resident Adrian Ferguson told the ABC that he and other homeowners had placed heavy rocks in front of the properties, some of which were installed 'just before the (recent) storms'. 'Last year, they had stones hitting their windows and the waves were hitting the windows,' he said. 'This year, it's just seaweed.' He said the sea walls, which he helped install at neighbouring properties, were not doing any harm to the area despite experts claiming they may do the opposite. 'I don't think what we've done is affecting anything, except it's looking after our investment,' he said. 'It's stopping erosion in front of our shacks – otherwise it would just be gone, the way the sea has been.' Over the past three decades, residents have built homemade sea walls to fight the erosion despite initial council objections. Supplied Credit: Supplied The council has announced it would map out a coastal adaptation strategy, which includes the formation of a Pelican Point Working Group, said the town was vulnerable to further erosion, and was drafting a plan to stop the town from being washed away. 'The town's low elevation makes it highly vulnerable to inundation during storm events, which is likely to cause substantial damage to both public and private assets,' the draft read. The strategy will not only encompass Pelican Point but other areas also vulnerable to erosion, including Port MacDonnell and Carpenter Rocks. A consultant who is working with the council on the drafted strategy, Andrew Pomeroy, said residents were able to submit feedback that would be considered as the strategy was finalised. 'It is important to note that the mapped hazard areas indicate zones at risk under a 'no action' scenario and they do not represent definitive predictions of where erosion or inundation will occur – simply that those areas are at risk of impact as a consequence of those processes,' he told the ABC. As part of the strategy, a council survey found that two-thirds of residents in the three vulnerable areas would be willing to make changes to their homes as part of the adaptation strategy. However, only one-third would be willing to move to a private property. Some residents claimed to not have an issue with erosion at all, the survey suggested. 'Several (residents) demand immediate action, fearing irreversible damage; others question the need for drastic measures, seeing changes as natural,' a report on the survey said. 'Scepticism exists toward climate modelling and long-term projections.' South Australia is not the only state facing an eroding coastline, with residents in the coastal town of Lancelin in Western Australia launching a petition calling for the state government to provide immediate emergency funding as the coastline is swallowed up. Since May, residents said more than 10m of land had disappeared due to erosion, with some parts losing more than 25m in the past year. Local resident and Lancelin Sands Hotel owner Glen Trebilcock said urgent assistance was needed. 'Without immediate intervention, the safety of the foreshore and the integrity of essential coastal infrastructure remain at serious risk,' he said. 'We strongly believe that a retreat is not a viable solution.' NewsWire has contacted District Council of Grant for comment.
News.com.au
30-07-2025
- Climate
- News.com.au
‘Highly vulnerable': Residents panic as erosion threatens to wash beachside town away
Residents in a beachside South Australian town may see their homes wiped out entirely as erosion eats up the sea walls, threatening to swallow houses next. Living on the edge of the water, Pelican Point residents have installed sea walls outside their homes as the water slowly closes in. One report suggests there is a 50 per cent chance the town could be wiped off the map by 2100 as the council drafts up a strategy to keep the buildings safe from erosion. Some households have resorted to building sea walls in front of their properties – some of which were first built more than 30 years ago – to stop the erosion in its tracks, the ABC reports. However, these homemade sea walls are on Crown Land and were not approved by the District Council of Grant, which filed legal action against the walls. The council eventually changed its tune and dropped the lawsuit in 2017 due to rising legal fees. Resident Adrian Ferguson told the ABC that he and other homeowners had placed heavy rocks in front of the properties, some of which were installed 'just before the (recent) storms'. 'Last year, they had stones hitting their windows and the waves were hitting the windows,' he said. 'This year, it's just seaweed.' He said the sea walls, which he helped install at neighbouring properties, were not doing any harm to the area despite experts claiming they may do the opposite. 'I don't think what we've done is affecting anything, except it's looking after our investment,' he said. 'It's stopping erosion in front of our shacks – otherwise it would just be gone, the way the sea has been.' The council has announced it would map out a coastal adaptation strategy, which includes the formation of a Pelican Point Working Group, said the town was vulnerable to further erosion, and was drafting a plan to stop the town from being washed away. 'The town's low elevation makes it highly vulnerable to inundation during storm events, which is likely to cause substantial damage to both public and private assets,' the draft read. The strategy will not only encompass Pelican Point but other areas also vulnerable to erosion, including Port MacDonnell and Carpenter Rocks. A consultant who is working with the council on the drafted strategy, Andrew Pomeroy, said residents were able to submit feedback that would be considered as the strategy was finalised. 'It is important to note that the mapped hazard areas indicate zones at risk under a 'no action' scenario and they do not represent definitive predictions of where erosion or inundation will occur – simply that those areas are at risk of impact as a consequence of those processes,' he told the ABC. As part of the strategy, a council survey found that two-thirds of residents in the three vulnerable areas would be willing to make changes to their homes as part of the adaptation strategy. However, only one-third would be willing to move to a private property. Some residents claimed to not have an issue with erosion at all, the survey suggested. 'Several (residents) demand immediate action, fearing irreversible damage; others question the need for drastic measures, seeing changes as natural,' a report on the survey said. 'Scepticism exists toward climate modelling and long-term projections.' South Australia is not the only state facing an eroding coastline, with residents in the coastal town of Lancelin in Western Australia launching a petition calling for the state government to provide immediate emergency funding as the coastline is swallowed up. Since May, residents said more than 10m of land had disappeared due to erosion, with some parts losing more than 25m in the past year. Local resident and Lancelin Sands Hotel owner Glen Trebilcock said urgent assistance was needed. ' W ithout immediate intervention, the safety of the foreshore and the integrity of essential coastal infrastructure remain at serious risk,' he said. 'We strongly believe that a retreat is not a viable solution.'
Daily Mail
29-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Aussie beachside town to be wiped off the map as locals are given a devastating date of when their homes will be swept into the ocean
Residents of a South Australian town fear their beachside paradise could soon be washed into the ocean as they frantically build break-walls to stop the erosion. Homeowners in Pelican Point are desperately preparing a 'coastal adaptation' strategy with their local council as they try to save their town. Property owners along Bungaloo Bay have been constructing sea walls on Crown Land over the past three decades - using rocks as heavy as 3.5tonnes. The District Council of Grant initially opposed the initiative and took legal action against the makeshift barriers, before changing tune and abandoning it in 2017. 'The council acknowledges these hazards and has commenced a joint project to reduce the risk of erosion and inundation,' a council spokesman said. 'The project aims to identify hazards and associated risks for each coastal township by 2050, and up to the year 2100, and evaluate options to adapt and protect our communities into the future.' Their report suggests there is a 50 per cent chance their town could be wiped from the map by the year 2100. Resident Adrian Ferguson told the ABC he had put up a break-wall between his property and the Southern Ocean. The District Council of Grant believes much of the town will erode away in the next 75 years (above, council modelling of erosion) 'The last shack to our right was done just before the recent storms,' he said. 'Last year, they had stones hitting their windows and the waves were hitting the windows. This year it's just seaweed.' He said, so far, the break-walls have been effective in preventing erosion. Mr Ferguson said some owners' motives were purely financial, as he and others doubted the scientific modelling. Many locals are looking to protect their investments as sea levels rise with some homes worth as much as $700,000. 'I think the costing of the shacks has got out of control like everything, but I don't think the sea is rising… you talk to the old guys here, they've seen this before,' Mr Ferguson said. The council's draft action plan said Pelican Point had several risk factors in the case of climate change-driven sea level rises. 'The town's low elevation makes it highly vulnerable to inundation during storm events, which is likely to cause substantial damage to both public and private assets,' the strategy read. Community surveys of Pelican Point and nearby townships found nearly all of the population would support changes to their homes as part of the adaptation strategy. Only a third, however, supported moving their own property. 'Several [residents] demand immediate action, fearing irreversible damage; others question the need for drastic measures, seeing changes as natural,' a report on the survey stated. 'Scepticism exists toward climate modelling and long-term projections.'
