Byron Shire Council staff are assessing the damage from the fall-out of ex-tropical cyclone Seth which generated very big waves, strong winds and king tides earlier this week.
Thankfully the wave size has decreased along with the high tides which finish today.
Inspections of the beaches this week show that most damage has happened at Byron Bay, with area most impacted just north of Main Beach, at the front of the First Sun Caravan Park.
The main access path from the carpark to Belongil Beach has been destroyed and the force of the waves has moved some rocks up the face of the geo-sandbags.
“The beach in front of the First Sun Caravan Park was hard hit and this is because there is a deep spot just off-shore and not much sand on the beach for the waves to run up, so the waves broke against and overtopped the low rock wall,” Chloe Dowsett, Coast, Biodiversity and Sustainability Coordinator, said.
At Main Beach a rock, estimated to weigh half a tonne, was pushed onto the steps.
“When you see large rocks being moved around and displaced it’s a powerful reminder about the force of the waves, especially when they were over-topping the carpark near the pool,” Ms Dowsett said.
People are asked to take care on beach access paths at Main Beach and Clarks Beach because some are closed and there is a drop to the sand at others.
People should stay away from the dunes and rock walls and not sit on the top, or at the foot, because they are unstable.
‘Some more trees have been lost in this area and we expect that when the dune dries out there will be some further slumping of the dune due to the softer sand,” Ms Dowsett said.
“However, the previously heavily impacted area between Clarks and Main Beach, that was eroded after the December 2020 event, held up very well due to the amount of sand that has moved back into this area of the bay.
“In the short-term we expect some more erosion, but the long-term outlook is brighter with our aerial imagery showing there is a large amount of sand in the bay area that will eventually make its way onto the beaches.
“We will continue to plan for dune restoration work this year and we have our fingers crossed that the NSW Government will approve an application for grant funding for this important project,” Ms Dowsett said.
At Suffolk Park the moderate damage to beach access ways was expected.
Beach access paths at South Golden Beach and New Brighton are in relatively good condition.
