Residents tide awake
HEAVY erosion has caused the banks of the Coomera River to collapse at a park behind Brindabella Close at Coomera Waters, with river water swallowing up trees, a walking track and much of the park itself.
Concerned residents are begging the Gold Coast City Council to fix the erosion problem urgently before nearby homes are also flooded and undermined.
Coomera Waters resident Angel Dianne Harrowfield said residents were just a king tide away from their homes being flooded.
She said she contacted the council two years ago to complain about the erosion destroying the park near her home.
Concerned about the impact the erosion could have on homes along the river bank in high tides or floods, Ms Harrowfield organised for a council representative to inspect the damage – but said nothing was ever done.
“They said they would send someone out to discuss it but on the day the council representative was caught in bad traffic and couldn’t come, then I never heard from them again,” she said.
“Now two years later, the erosion is so bad that half the walking track and the recreation park have disappeared. The trees are all collapsing into the park.”
She said the water was also dangerously close to flooding homes next to the park.
“The water is fast approaching our homes here and in some places the water is 12 metres close to homes,” she said.
“(If left any longer) this will cost the council and ratepayers a fortune to save our homes with a rock wall.’’
Ms Harrowfield said a small part of the river bank already had a rock wall which was successfully keeping the erosion – and the river water – at bay.
She said extending the rock wall would potentially secure the banks and help to prevent flooding disasters.
A council spokesman said the council was “aware of bank erosion issues Coomera River”.
“The main focus will be to encourage mangrove and other native vegetation growth which is a best practice approach for improving river bank stability and reducing erosion in these environments,” he said.
The spokesman declined to comment on when antierosion measures would be put in place and whether a rock wall would feasible in saving homes backing on to the park, which runs along the riverbank. in the