IN THE NEWS
'Australia's coastal towns are facing major erosion. Are artificial reefs a solution?
11th November 2023
By Rachel Clayton and Natasha Schapova - ABC
20th September 2022
By Benjamin Preiss
31st July 2022
By Laura Chung and Abby Seaman - Sydney Morning Herald
IN THE NEWS - pre 2016
Coastal erosion is a community concern and is making headlines. Here we provide links to media reports and stories connected to the Moyne River, its esturary and our coastline.
July 20, 2016
Anthony Brady WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
THE leader of a group taking on coastal erosion believes Port Fairy is well-placed to defend itself.
In June, houses at Collaroy Beach in Sydney suffered extensive damage when storms battered the dunes where the properties precariously sit.
September 27, 2016
Anthony Brady WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
THE leader of the Port Fairy Coastal Group said progress is being made in the fight against erosion but warned to err on the side of caution.
In his report at the group’s annual general meeting earlier this month, chairperson Nick Abbott said it had been a productive year of data collection and collation.
May 4, 2016
MADELEINE McNEIL, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
Port Fairy’s coastline has been chosen to feature on a new Australian coastal management website.
A film crew captured residents monitoring South Beach on Thursday and highlighted some of the local coastal issues.
Work on sea wall begins
Nov 10, 2015
MADELEINE McNEIL, MOYNE GAZETTE
Construction of a new 225 metre sea wall began this week at Pea Soup Beach, Port Fairy to prevent ongoing sand dune erosion.
The beach is closed to the public throughout the work’s duration and are expected to take four weeks, depending on weather conditions.
Nov 02, 2015
MOYNE SHIRE
A new sea wall is to be constructed at Pea Soup Beach. A rock seawall was constructed on the toe (front) of the eroded dunes in front of the private property at 1 Ocean Drive many years ago.
September 27, 2015
KATRINA LOVEL, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
RUBBISH at the former East Beach tip site should be removed not covered up, a public rally in Port Fairy was told on Sunday.
About 50 people attended the Victorian Marine Animal Defence Conservation Society’s meeting, which aimed to highlight the issue.
Public voice concern at rally at Port Fairy Life saving club on Sunday
September 23, 2015
MADELEINE McNEAL, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
SOUTH-WEST politicians have called for action at the East Beach former tip site and will attend a rally in Port Fairy on Sunday.
The public rally, organised by The Victorian Marine Animal Defence Conservation Society, will highlight the danger the waste poses to beach users, marine life and the environment.
September 9, 2015
A PUBLIC rally this month will call on government departments to clean up their act at the former East Beach tip site.
The Victorian Marine Animal Defence Conservation Society (VMAD) group rally will be at the Port Fairy Surf Club on September 27, starting at noon.
August 31, 2015
RACHAEL HOULIHAN, MOYNE GAZETTE
ENVIRONMENT Minister Lisa Neville has said no further action is needed to prevent rubbish from entering the ocean at the East Beach tip site. The minister visited the Port Fairy site with representatives from the Moyne Shire Council.
Rock wall is working at Port Fairy East Beach tip site
August 18, 2015
RACHAEL HOULIHAN, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
ENVIRONMENT Minister Lisa Neville says no further action is needed to prevent rubbish being washed into the ocean at Port Fairy.
The minister made good on her promise to visit the former tip site at East Beach, touring the area on Friday with representatives from the Moyne Shire Council.
August 14, 2015
MADELEINE McNEIL, MOYNE GAZETTE
State Environment Minister Lisa Neville has put East Beach on her agenda and will visit the tip site in coming weeks.
The promise comes after Member for South West Coast Denis Napthine and Opposition Leader Matthew Guy visited the site with Moyne Shire Council’s deputy mayor Jill Parker on Thursday.
August 13, 2015
Denis Napthine
Measures to fix Port Fairy’s East Beach erosion issues have been successful to date but more investment is needed to reduce future risk, Member for South West Coast Denis Napthine has warned.
July 30, 2015
MADELINE McNEIL, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
A PUBLIC rally at the East Beach tip site will call on government departments to clean up their act on hazardous material.
The Victorian Marine Animal Defence Conservation Society (VMAD) launched a campaign this week to Reclaim East Beach Port Fairy.
May 12, 2015
ANTHONY BRADY, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
Over the last week high tides and storms have battered the dunes at an old Port Fairy tip and night soil site and sent rubbish onto the beach.
The tip was shut down in the 1980s but the rapid erosion of the dunes since has exposed buried rubbish.
May 21, 2015
MOYNE GAZETTE
REMOVING the remains of a long closed waste facility would come at a huge cost for the Moyne Shire Council.
The cost of removing rubbish spilling on to Port Fairy’s East Beach from the towns old tip is likely to be at least $30 million.
July 3, 2015
MADELEINE McNEIL, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
FIVE-tonne rocks are being buried at East Beach to protect Port Fairy infrastructure from a one-in-100 year storm event and future erosion. A 60 metre rock wall is currently under construction at East Beach, north of the Battery Hill boat ramp, and is expected to be completed in coming weeks.
June 27, 2015
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
THE ongoing concerns over the erosion of Port Fairy's coastline have been prominent in submissions put forward for the Moyne Shire's draft budget. At the council meeting in Port Fairy on Tuesday several speakers questioned why more funding had not been put into efforts to address the issue.
May 28, 2015
JONO PECH, THE STANDARD
THE state government has been invited to Port Fairy for a first-hand inspection of East Beach’s coastal erosion problems.
May 27, 2015
EVERARD HIMMELREICH, THE STANDARD
ANY rubbish removed from the former Port Fairy municipal tip at East Beach will have to be transported to the Naroghid regional tip near Camperdown, Moyne Shire Council says.
May 23, 2015
CAROLYNE RANCE, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
In Victoria's Moyne Shire — a municipality with just 16,000 people and a100 kilometre coastline — engineer Ebony Perrin focuses on how to achieve effective and affordable solutions to the flooding and erosion caused by storm surges.
May 16, 2015
Ian Southerland, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
A tourism jewel of the south-west or an environmental disaster? Port Fairy's East Beach is facing a huge challenge and it will take more than Band-Aid solutions to fix things, argues local doctor IAN SUTHERLAND.
It has been predicted for the past decade or more but now it has happened.
May 21, 2015
MOYNE GAZETTE
A FUNDING commitment has been given by the Moyne Shire Council to fund a project that will study how Port Fairy should respond to rising sea levels from climate change. The council has nominated $580,000 for the project.
May 21, 2015
EVERARD HIMMELREICH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
THE cost of removing rubbish spilling on to Port Fairy’s East Beach from an old tip is likely to be at least $30 million, Moyne Shire Council has revealed.
April 9, 2015
WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
SAND-TRAP fencing is having some success in mitigating a high-profile erosion problem along Port Fairy’s East Beach.
The new barrier was installed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) at the old night soil site off Woodbine Road following concerns over erosion during the past five years.
May 20, 2015
EDITORIAL, WARNNAMBOOL STANDARD
CONFRONTING pictures of rubbish from an old tip site on Port Fairy’s East Beach published by this newspaper on the weekend will hopefully serve to focus both state and federal governments’ attention on what is undoubtedly the community’s most challenging issue.
May 19, 2015
MOYNE SHIRE
There has been understandable concern from the local community after rubbish from the old Municipal tip at East Beach Port Fairy made its way on the beach. The old tip site is situated close to the Port Fairy Golf Course about 2.5 km North of the Surf Life Saving Club.
May 18, 2015
DAVID HURLEY, SUN HERALD
RUBBISH from a 1970s tip that was created on sand dunes is now spilling out on to a picturesque beach in Victoria’s southwest. The old rubbish tip in Port Fairy was shut in 1994 but recent wild weather has battered the coast leaving car parts, old fridges, an oil drum, freezers and television sets strewn across the sand.
May 16, 2015
A tourism jewel of the south-west or an environmental disaster? Port Fairy's East Beach is facing a huge challenge and it will take more than Band-Aid solutions to fix things, argues local doctor IAN SUTHERLAND. It has been predicted for the past decade or more but now it has happened.
May 14, 2015
ANTHONY BRADY, THE STANDARD
THE process of further fortifying Port Fairy’s East Beach has begun. Boulders arrived on site yesterday in preparation for their distribution along a section of the beach where dunes cover the remains of the old Port Fairy rubbish tip.
May 14, 2015
ATHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZZETTE
THE next generation have put their hands up to help stop Port Fairy from washing into the sea. As wild weather and big tides battered the Port Fairy coastline this month, students from the town's two primary schools stepped up.
May 12, 2015
ABC NEWS
A coastal community in Victoria's south-west says it is beginning to feel the full effects of climate change, as beach erosion exposes a defunct landfill site.
April 9, 2015
MOYNE GAZETTE
A TRIAL of sand-trap fencing to stabilise East Beach is proving successful.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP)built fencing at the old night soil site which is firming up the beach and dune system.
April 9, 2015
THE STANDARD
SAND-TRAP fencing is having some success in mitigating a high-profile erosion problem along Port Fairy’s East Beach. The new barrier was installed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) at the old night soil site off Woodbine Road following concerns over erosion during the past five years.
February 15, 2015
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
AN international fact-finding mission has found a two-pronged approach is needed to save Port Fairy's coastline. Moyne Shire Council environment services leader Ebony Perrin has returned from a study tour with some ideas to deal with erosion issues.
December 9, 2014
JARROD WOOLLEY, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
THE possible effects of coastal erosion and inundation in Port Fairy will be on display in shops over the busy summer period. The Port Fairy Coastal Group’s “poster project” was launched yesterday and aims to discover how the community uses the town’s coastline and which areas it values most.
Port Fairy's beach still eroding but rock barriers working
October 2, 2014
EVERARD HIMMERLREICH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
EROSION continues to undermine parts of Port Fairy’s East Beach, according to studies by a local environmental group.
Port Fairy Coastal Group chairman Nick Abbott said the alarming rate of erosion revealed by the group’s monthly beach profile measurements had helped alert the Department of Primary Industries and Environment (DEPI) and Moyne Shire Council to the scale of the problem and provide a basis for remedial actions.
September 26. 2014
EVERARD HIMMELREICH, WARNNAMBOOL STANDARD
Moyne Shire Council engineering and design manager Leah Johnston said a stone wall along the river next to Griffiths Street had collapsed after the river bank was eroded during a storm in June.
April 5, 2014
Rachael Houlihan, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
NATIVE vegetation has received a helping hand with volunteers removing weedy invaders at The Passage in Port Fairy on Sunday.
July 11, 2014
PETER COLLINS, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
Moyne Shire Council has estimated it will cost about $280,000 to repair damage caused by storms, with Pea Soup beach receiving the most severe battering.
The scenic coastal indent is littered with smashed timber, which until the June 24 storm had formed a walkway. Rocks were scattered like pebbles.
July 9, 2014
PETER COLLINS, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
A SIMPLE rock wall constructed as an experiment has produced amazing results in preventing further leakage into the sea of a disused Port Fairy rubbish tip.
June 24, 2014
JON PECH & SEAN MCCOMISH, THE STANDARD
SPECTACULAR wild weather across the south-west had emergency services rushing around yesterday after strong winds battered trees, damaged properties and flooded roads. SES and Victoria Police were inundated with reports of building damage and trees on roads around Warrnambool, Portland and Heywood.
May 1, 2014
EVERARD HIMMERLREICH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
WORK is due to start this week on the construction of a 160-metre-long rock-wall designed to stop rubbish from an old tip site on East Beach at Port Fairy from spilling on to the sand.
The wall was proposed by the Department for Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) as a trial measure to combat beach erosion that has exposed rubbish in beachside dunes from the former tip.
April 24, 2014
TESTING will soon take place at East Beach Port Fairy to find the best method to protect the dunes in front of the former landfill site. Moyne Shire Council and the Development of Environment and Primary Industries are conducting the tests.
April 10, 2014
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
THE future generation of Port Fairy is getting pro-active in dealing with one of the biggest issues facing the town. Last Tuesday pupils from St Patrick's Port Fairy took advantage of a day of warm weather to head down to East Beach.
Feb 7, 2014
SEAN McCOMISH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
DREDGING Port Fairy bay appears to be the best option to save East Beach but plans to relocate the sand to the shore could be years away.
Moyne Shire flagged the idea late last year but needs a range of studies to ensure neither marine life nor the bay’s sunken shipwrecks will be disturbed by any dredging.
January 31, 2014
SEAN McCOMISH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
MOYNE Shire councillor Jim Doukas will need to be patient, according to fellow councillors, after he slammed Port Fairy’s East Beach redesign as “ugly”. Cr Doukas steered talks away from finance on Tuesday night to take aim at the recent landscaping of the popular tourist beach near the surf club.
December 12, 2013
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
WORKS at Port Fairy's iconic East Beach are expected to be complete in time for the start of the Christmas and New Year holiday period. The beach is currently fenced off from the surf club along to the Beach Street toilet block.
November 16, 2013
Text.
WORK to defend a centre section of Port Fairy’s East Beach rock wall is nearly over but council is still unsure where it will find another $4 million to finish the entire wall.
Excavators have spent two weeks burying massive basalt boulders under the rock wall between the surf club and the toilet block.
October 31, 2013
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
ACCESS to the main section of Port Fairy's East Beach will be cut off for a month as work begins to help save the iconic piece of coastline.
On Monday crews will cordon off the beach from the surf club to the Beach Street toilet block to undertake works on the rock seawall. The beach will reopen on December 2, in time for summer patrols to begin on December 7.
September 26, 2013
MOYNE GAZETTE
A SECTION of Port Fairy's seawall will be repaired with a $75,000 state government grant. Premier and Member for South West Coast Denis Napthine said the Coastal Environments Program risk mitigation grants program funding would repair and restore a section of the seawall to help prevent coastal inundation and protect homes along East Beach.
READ MORE >
August 28, 2013
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
Port Fairy's old tip site at East Beach is just metres from exposure, erosion figures released by the Port Fairy Coastal Community Challenge group reveal. The monitoring group's latest report says only five metres of dune separate the tip's contents from the beach.
June 19, 2013
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
THE quest for knowledge about Port Fairy's disappearing coastline saw huge numbers turn up for public information sessions held last week. More than 400 people came through the doors of the Port Fairy Community Services Centre last Thursday for an open house to discuss and to gain information on the Port Fairy Coastal Hazard Assessment report.
June 19, 2013
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
WHEN it comes to Port Fairy's East Beach, Lyal Eales has some first-hand history few could match.
"I grew up in the last house along the East Beach before the golf course," Mr Eales recalled last week.
May 30, 2013
SEAN MCCOMISH, THE STANDARD
A CLIMATE change report released by Moyne Shire this week predicts homes along Port Fairy’s southern beaches will come under threat from rising seas in less than 50 years.
May 29, 2013
Sean McComish, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
NEARLY 270 homes in Port Fairy are at risk of inundation from the ocean and hundreds more are in the path of rising sea levels over the coming decades, according to a long-awaited study.
December 20, 2012
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
Local knowledge could be the key to help solve coastal erosion, Victorian Coastal Council chairman Jon Hickman says. Mr Hickman made the call during a visit to Port Fairy last week as part of a two-day journey along the coast from Torquay to Portland to assess coastal erosion.
December 13, 2012
SEAN McCOMISH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
PORT FAIRY’S East Beach has been given a clean bill of health.
An environmental study failed to uncover hazardous materials at two former tip sites.
Dec 12, 2012
ANTHONY BRADY MOYNE GAZETTE
An environmental assessment of two former landfill sites at East Beach has been completed. The Department of Sustainability (DSE) and Moyne Shire Council appointed Melbourne company Senversa to undertake the assessments in September.
November 22, 2012
SEAN McCOMISH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
WORKS to save several Port Fairy homes from the relentless erosion at East Beach have been completed.
Heavy machinery has remained on the sand for the past three weeks, shifting rocks and sand to finish off the first stages of overall plans to salvage the sand dunes.
October 25, 2012
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
TIME is rapidly running out for a rescue mission at Port Fairy's East Beach. The Moyne Shire has called on the state government to supply funding to transfer a large amount of sand from Warrnambool to Port Fairy.
Backs to the wall for the Port fairy East Beach dunes
October 19, 2012
PETER COLLINS, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
WORK has started on building a stronger rock wall fronting Port Fairy’s East Beach dunes to slow down erosion from pounding ocean waves.
Moyne Shire Council will spend $174,000 on a 120-metre section north of Connolly Street to put in a 1.5-metre foundation topped with rocks.
October 10, 2012
PETER COLLINS, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
MOYNE Shire Council has made an urgent plea for state government money so it can truck dredged sand from a Warrnambool beach to stabilise eroded dunes on Port Fairy’s East Beach.
October 10, 2012
ANTHONY BRADY, MOYNE GAZETTE
MOYNE Shire councillor Jill Parker is confident the council will secure funding for major works to help fix the issue of erosion at Port Fairy's East Beach. The Warrnambool City Council has dredged a large amount of sand from Lady Bay and the Moyne Shire hopes to have this sand trucked to East Beach .
September 5, 2012
EVERARD HIMMERLREICH, MOYNE GAZETTE
THE dune system along Port Fairy bay appears to have been eroded by about a metre each year since 1996, Port Fairy Community Coastal Challenge chairman Matt Hayes has said.
Mr Hayes said a lot of erosion had occurred during the past winter but no accurate measurements were possible yet.
September 1, 2012
JONO PECH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
ENVIRONMENTAL assessments are taking place at Port Fairy’s East Beach landfill site to measure gas and groundwater emissions.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Moyne Shire Council have appointed Melbourne environmental assessor Senversa Pty Ltd to undertake the field work.
July 18, 2012
THE leader of a group formed to bring a community voice to the issue of erosion along Port Fairy's coastline insists the group is achieving its goals.
Money for Port Fairy beach a shore thing
September 11, 2011
MARY ALEXANDER, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
A PLAN to reduce erosion along Port Fairy’s popular East Beach has been given a kick-start by the state government.
Environment and Climate Change Minister Ryan Smith yesterday announced a $146,500 grant to allow Moyne Shire to carry out emergency repairs to the sea wall in the next few months.
March 1, 2012
WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
A HAZARD assessment at East Beach will kick off within weeks to ascertain the extent of ecological danger posed by an old rubbish tip.
Environment Minister Ryan Smith has announced the survey would be managed by Moyne Shire with the municipality finalising a contract for work to be completed.
February 29, 2012
WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
MORE than 200 kilograms of asbestos has been uncovered at Port Fairy's East Beach, prompting Moyne Shire councillors to urge for greater state intervention.
The Standard revealed last year that an array of rusting refuse and rancid waste had been pouring into the sea from the night soil dump and adjacent rubbish tip with concerns raised by nearby residents.
December 13, 2011
JONO PECH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
MACHINERY has been used at Port Fairy’s East Beach in a trial to remove rubbish exposed by erosion at the nearby former tip site. The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and the Moyne Shire Council on Monday coordinated the trial, in which a bulldozer excavated waste materials.
October 17, 2011
ALEX SINNOTT & JONO PECH,WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
DECADES of solidified sewage and discarded household rubbish from an old night soil dump and tip is being eroded out of sand dunes at Port Fairy and dumped onto its popular East Beach.
Rising tides have carved back dunes by several metres in less than 12 months, exposing the first of hundreds of tonnes of old metal, rusted waste pans, broken bottles and other decayed rubbish
October 19, 2011
PETER COLLINS, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
A PRIORITY investigation has been ordered by the state government into erosion of Port Fairy’s East Beach which has exposed hazards from an old rubbish dump.
August 1, 2011
JONOTHAN PECH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
PORT Fairy residents are joining forces with the big guns of academia in a bid to save the town's much-loved East Beach. Deakin University has offered the townspeople support and expertise as it enters a new phase in the fight against dune erosion.
Rescue plan for Port Fairy's East Beach
May 25, 2011
JONO PECH, WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
THE eroding rock wall at Port Fairy’s East Beach will be torn down and rebuilt as a major Moyne Shire Council project this year.
Revealed this week in the proposed 2011-12 budget, the $340,000 project will see sections of the wall demolished and replaced with a well-designed and stable basalt rock wall to absorb the energy of beating waves, with a base set below the sea.
April 19, 2011
WARRNAMBOOL STANDARD
BEACH erosion and flooding was on the agenda yesterday when Moyne Shire hosted council officers from Clarence. The Tasmanian city council has visited Port Fairy for an information-sharing session on coastal development in areas susceptible to erosion and sea level rises.
May 20, 2006
RACHEL KLEINMAN, THE AGE
WINDSWEPT dunes sculpt the section of East Beach that sits between Port Fairy's golf course and the historic town's northern edge.
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