Please visit www.savebastionpoint.org for breaking news on this unresolved threat.

Background to the problem:

The Local Council plans to build a 130m long jetty and boat ramp directly through the break at Bastion Point, a break on the Victoria coast near the town of Mallacoota. The most popular break in the area, it has been a primary surfing location for well over 40 years, throughout the year and in all weather conditions. It is regularly used by over 60 local surfers and many hundreds more visiting surfers every year.

Bastion Point is unique in that it is one of the few breaks on Victoria’s far east coast that works well in southerly winds. It provides a safe environment with a variety of waves that cater to both beginner and expert surfers. Bastion Point is big business to surfing in Mallacoota, Victoria and Australia. To destroy the wave at Bastion Point, as the Shire will do if the development proceeds as planned, would be like ripping up the only town football field to put in a parking lot. There simply is no other place nearby to surf.

Surfing is big business in Australia. Per capita, surfers spend as much, if not more, than recreational fishers. The business of surfing relies on the image of a pristine environment. While Australia’s coastline is vast, only a relatively small area can be surfed with any degree of safety or regularity. East Gippsland Shire is no different and Bastion Point is the area in East Gippsland where the waves are the most accessible and the most consistent.

Everyone who visits Mallacoota knows that Bastion Point is a rare jewel – an unspoiled piece of Victoria’s coastline tucked away from the prevailing winds – a haven not just for surfers, but for swimmers, families, fishermen and beachcombers alike. This proposal poses a significant threat to the amenity and experience of all of these recreational groups.

Surfrider Foundation has been assisting those in the community of Mallacoota who oppose the development of the boat ramp and associated infrastructure at Bastion Point in Mallacoota. Careful analysis of the proposal has revealed a project that is economically rash and environmentally unsound.

Two independent reviews of the coastal processes study found the report to the Shire to be significantly flawed. The model used to predict coastal processes in the report to the Shire is known to only be valid in the following conditions:

1. where no tidal current is present

2. where the beach is straight without the proposed groyne-fields or offshore breakwater
 

3. where the beach is planar without complicated breaker-bar systems

Current and past conditions at Bastion Point do not satisfy any of these conditions. Furthermore, the study does not consider any effects that result from tidal change or sand movement around Bastion Point, and no fieldwork was ever undertaken to establish whether the figures used in the modeling were accurate. This is contrary to widely published coastal engineering advice (and common sense).

Surfrider Australia’s advice is that the studies are incomplete and that the development, if it proceeds, will do little to lessen the risk to boaters and other users. On the contrary, the risks may be increased.

To help save the wave at Bastion Point, please visit the Save Bastion Point website.