A Western Australian pub owner has been forced to take drastic action to protect his beachfront hotel from serious erosion.
Glen Trebilcock, owner of the Lancelin Sands Hotel, recently woke to find the temporary defence against erosion, which had been placed late last year, had washed away leaving only fifteen metres between the pub and the shoreline.
Fearing the real possibility of soon finding his restaurant in the sea, Trebilcock hired a front-end loader to move sand, reinforcing the area himself.
“We lost 35 metres last year, the State Government turned around and provided a temporary funding of $150k that got utilised to do the sand nourishment (replacement) and that hasn’t really worked long term,” he told Perth Now.
While 900 cubic metres of sand replacement held up over the summer months, the works have not remained after several nights of damaging high tides.
Last September, the shire of Gingin completed sand replacement works, and in February it voted to begin a design process for another temporary solution of a rock-bag wall.
Linda Balcombe, Gingin Shire President, said sand nourishment could be reinstated once the coastline passed a trigger profile, which had not yet been reached.
Shane Love, leader of the Nationals, offers it is a dire situation. Twelve months ago, he says the hotel was separated from the shore by a footpath and a vegetated sand dune. Now, both are gone.
Trebilcock said immediate action was necessary, and there was no time to wait for reports.
“It’s not something that needs to be done in six months. It’s something that needs to be rectified now,” he says.
A spokesperson for the Western Australian Government Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure (DTMI) said the shire was able to apply for further funding.
“The emergency sand nourishment works were funded by the State Government to provide short-term resilience to erosion pressures, enabling the shire to continue to engage with the community and stakeholders on planning for longer-term coastal adaption,” the spokesperson told Perth Now.
The spokesperson advised the DTMI were continuing to work on the area’s coastal management with the shire.
