Western Australia faces growing coastal erosion threats

Coastal communities and landmark beaches in Western Australia are facing unprecedented threats from storms and erosion with significant financial implications for communities, councils and governments.

With the city of Perth stretched out along 160 kilometres of almost uninterrupted sandy beaches to the north and south, winter storms and tides are powering a wave of erosion that is washing away significant areas of land.

The situation at Port Beach, just north of the port of Fremantle, is a glimpse of what the future could hold for the rest of Perth's coastline, with severe erosion having forced the closure of the beach.

Stormy, rough seas have swallowed sand dunes at the man-made beach, exposing hazardous debris from the area's industrial history, leading the City of Fremantle has erected a temporary rock wall to defend buildings on the brink of collapse.

In Perth's northern suburbs, the popular Mettams Pool swimming spot faces a similar fate.

Sand dunes are crumbling and steps are in danger of collapsing as the coastline edges back towards its beachside road.

The cost and effort of preserving the coastline has led several councils to consider exploring a so-called 'managed retreat' approach - planning to move settlements and infrastructure further inland and away from the advancing waves.

Erosion is also impacting communities up and down the Western Australian coast.

Coastal councils in the states's South West undertook research in 2012 that found about $1.2 billion worth of assets were at risk from erosion between Rockingham and Dunsborough.

The report found about $1.1 billion of these assets could be saved from future erosion, but this would come at a cost of about $120 million.

In Lancelin, the same wind and waves which bring thousands of windsurfers and kite surfers to town each summer are eating away at the coast, most visibly at Grace Darling Park in the south end of town.

The grassed park has halved in size over about two years. Part of the carpark has been washed away, roads have been closed and the shire had to remove shelters and decommission toilets to prevent septic tanks being washed into the ocean.

The Lancelin Volunteer Marine Rescue Building, based at the park, once sat 15 metres back from the beach but now the sand is just a few metres away.

On a few occasions the Gingin Shire has dumped sand in front of the park, but it cost tens of thousands of dollars and was soon washed away.

It is yet to establish how it would fund even the most temporary proposed solution, involving geo-sandbags, at a cost of $650,000.

South of Perth, the City of Rockingham is also grappling with erosion along its 37 kilometre long coastline.

Mayor Barry Sammels stressed that the full impact of erosion would not be felt in his area for several decades, but the City had already spent millions of dollars trying to preserve its beaches.

An area along the Rockingham Esplanade at Palm Beach, where a park and road separate the houses and the beach, has been identified as one of the most vulnerable spots in the area.

Mayor Sammels is also the chair of the Australian Coastal Councils Association, which is calling on all levels of government to help with the cost of tackling erosion.

He said the beaches were an asset for all West Australians, so it was only fair that everyone help fund the fight, telling the ABC "it needs to be a collaborative approach, it's not just up to local government. Everybody comes and enjoys the coast, you don't need to live on the coast to enjoy it.

"We're not asking (state and Federal governments) to fund everything, we want to work with them.

"It's a huge job for coastal councils around Australia and we need help."

Images: Erosion at Fremantle's Port Beach.