Surfers are concerned that an $11 million upgrade to South Newcastle beach’s skate park will “stuff up” their waves and be susceptible to storm damage.
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Newcastle City Council and the state government announced the redevelopment last week as the latest section of Bather’s Way improvements. The project includes a kiosk, outdoor gym and a new section of promenade.
Artist’s impressions of the skate park appear to show it jutting out at least 10 metres into the sand.
Mr Wilson, who has been surfing at South Newcastle for 32 years, said on Sunday that the concrete structure could ruin the beach’s waves around high tide.
“We’ve been looking at the high tide line,” he said. “If you go down today, you’ll see there’s not much beach there, so if they come out 10 metres or so, the retaining wall that will encase that skate bowl, just going off the pictures, it’s going to create a backwash effect two hours before and after high tide.
“It will stuff the waves up at South Newy and also cause erosion as well. That’s just from a surfer’s, and probably a selfish, point of view.
“From a ratepayer’s point of view, you’re going to have to employ another beach cleaner down there to clean the sand out of the skate bowls all the time.
“One good east coast low is basically going to rip it apart or fill it up with sand and water. If you go by the storm we had on the first and second of June, that wasn’t really that big, only 10- or 12-foot waves, and with the storm surge, sand and water went back up over the promenade.”
The council’s chief executive officer, Jeremy Bath, said the skate park and other improvements had been the subject of “three years of meticulous design work”.
“This includes tidal modelling and allowance for backwash,” he said.
“Undoubtedly, in extreme storms sand will move to the promenade. This is something that already happens and is addressed by council’s beach cleaning team.
“If the board riders have any concerns, they only need to reach out to council to receive a briefing.
“Certainly now is the time to be hearing from stakeholders with construction scheduled to start early next year. That said, council has consulted widely with the community, and its submission to the NSW government included a letter from surf lifesaving, who also sit on the council’s coastal revitalisation committee.”
Geoff Young, who has surfed at South Newcastle since 1982, said small changes on the beach could have a big impact on the waves.
He said surfers had no problem with a skate park at the beach but believed it should be contained to the beach promenade.
“I was shocked when I saw it. It will get demolished one day,” he said. “You get a Pasha Bulker storm, all the old steps [on the promenade] are exposed.
“If they want to do that, put it up where the skate park is now.”
Geoff Crane, a 40-year veteran of surfing at South Newcastle, also wanted the skate park limited to the promenade, saying the water reached the walkway “at least half a dozen times a year”.
Councillor John Church (Independent) said he supported the Bather’s Way improvements but before commenting further would “need to see expert advice about the impact of putting a large concrete structure beyond the current boundary”.
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