Current Problems of the Gold Coast Beach and Their Solutions

Purpose of Field Study

The purpose of this essay about beach is to list and explain the issues and threats to the Gold Coast Beaches and how to prevent/fix them. The future generation should not be left to fix the mess that has been left on Gold Coast beaches by the current generation. This text is aimed to educate the future stakeholders of the measures that need to be taken to manage and protect the beaches. 

Background

The Gold Coast is located on the coastline of South East Queensland. The population density of the Gold Coast is 417 people per square kilometre. The Gold Coast City Council aim to provide protection towards the landscaping features, wildlife and the environment. Tourist attractions on the Gold Coast include the theme parks, beaches, wildlife centres and many more. There is many stakeholders involved with the Gold Coast. Stakeholders are the people who use/live on the Gold Coast, for example the ratepayers are stakeholders, so are the people who holiday on the Gold Coast who are known as tourists.

Gold Coast beaches are a very important part of the Gold Coast because they are major tourist attractions. Thousands of people per year come from all over the world to see and use the beautiful Gold Coast beaches. The Gold Coast beaches also play a major part in the Gold Coast entertainment business by providing something to do for the locals. The beaches are a beautiful feature on the Gold Coast. There is also many threats that await the Gold Coast beaches. Erosion is one of the major threats to Gold Coast beaches. Erosion is when the wind or waves push up against something to cause gradual destruction.

The preservation of the Gold Coast beaches is important because of many factors. Without the beaches the community would lose a major source of entertainment. The houses on the beachside would also be affected due to the fact that without preservation the houses on the beachside may erode which could cause the houses to collapse and would result in many people becoming homeless. This would negatively affect the Gold Coast beaches environmentally.

Definitions of Key Terms

In this report there is many key terms that will be used. There will be explanations on what these terms mean. Erosion is the breakdown of rocks or sand. A long shore drift is a movement of sediments in the near shore zone. A training wall is a wall designed to direct the flow of a waterway. A buffer zone is an area of land built for the protection of the environment. A groyne is a low wall to check erosion and drifting. Dredging is the removal of sediments from the bottom of waterways. A dune is a pile of sand formed by the wind. A sand trap is a mechanical machine made for the quick removal of sand from the water. The last term is beach nourishment which is the adding of large amounts of sand.

Statement/Discussion of Findings

On the field trip to Palm Beach Avenue. The class learnt many facts about the Gold Coast beaches and what the community have to do to fix them. The class arrived at Palm Beach on the 8th of May at approximately 9:35. The class learnt about beach vegetation, long shore drift and Erosion.

On the field trip the class collected many different types of data such as the wind speed behind and in front of the primary dunes, wave count, sand dunes, erosion, long shore drift, beach use, human settlement, coastal environment and beach management. The quality of the data would be considered accurate due to the fact we used special equipment such as anemometers and stop watches.

Background Information on Survey Site

Palm Beach is located on the Southern end of the Gold Coast. The population density is 24.68 per km. Palm beach is home to an artificial reef along with beautiful vegetation along the sand dunes. Tourist attractions at Palm Beach include lighthouses, lookouts, beaches, national parks and caves. Palm Beach provides amazing infrastructure such as the sand dredging, seawalls and sand pumping utilities. The Gold Coast city provides this infrastructure in order to preserve a well managed and healthy beach. The stakeholders of Palm Beach are the rate payers, residents, people who visit palm beaches and businesses who in invest money into the city. The tax money goes towards the towns redevelopment which includes the health of our beaches.

What Was the Condition Health of Palm Beach in the Past

There is many negative and positive features regarding the health of palm beach in the past. In the past palm beach had a smaller population which meant they had less litter and pollution. In 2006 Palm Beach had a population of 13,494 and Palm beach now has a population of 14,654. That positively impacted palm beach by making the beach healthier and cleaner. Having a smaller population also meant that Palm Beach received less money which meant that Palm Beach did not have enough money to build the infrastructure that Palm Beach has now such as sand dredging, artificial reefs and more. Without these resources palm beach’s health was not as good as it is now

How Healthy are Our Gold Coast Beaches Today? Have They Changed Over Time?

50 years ago palm beach was not as healthy as it is now. 50 years ago they did not have the right resources to fix the problems there was. 50 years later Palm beach is in the process of installing an artificial reef and has already installed a high level sand dredging machine. The coastal management of Palm Beach now is also better than 50 years ago due to how they handle storm damage they have installed many features to improve the health of palm beach over the last 50 years.

How Have Natural Environmental Factors Negatively Impacted on Palm Beach?

There are many natural environmental factors that have negatively impacted Palm Beach such as erosion. Erosion causes the sand dunes to decompose . Secondly long shore drift which is the current along the coastline which causes the water to become unsettled. Futhermore climate change impacts the beach, climate change is what causes the sea level to rise which could cause erosion problems on the sand

Conclusion

In conclusion it has been proven that in order to keep our Gold Coast beaches out of danger we must keep using thesatisfactory systems in place. Sand dredging is one of the main things the beaches need, sand dredging helps make the waterways deeper and clearer. One the fieldtrip we came across some evidence of long shore drift, which was the zig zag lines at high tide and the current was going up the coastline this indicates that are beaches are at threat by long shore drift.

Recommendations for Future Management

One idea I think would be benefitical and would help manage/ preserve the beach is add more artificial sand dunes. Artifical sand dunes act as a line of defence/ protection to storm damage and erosion. This idea will help better protect the buildings on the beachside. This plan could happen by pumping sand from the creek and allowing it to be pumped back on to the beach to artificially build up the dunes. The local stakeholders can get involved with this by volunteering to help with this process.