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Media release


Community Liaison Group meeting No.2

3 July 2006

Doug Prosser, chairman of the Lake Illawarra Authority (LIA), today advised that the second meeting of the Lake Illawarra Entrance Works (Stage-2) Community Liaison Group (CLG) was conducted on 29 June 2006.

The group consists of representatives from the LIA, Wollongong and Shellharbour City councils, the contractor, an independent environmental manager, members of local businesses and organisations, and the community. In all there are 20 representatives, with group meetings held monthly.

"The group was informed that work on the project had commenced on 22 June 2006, with Minister for the Illawarra the Hon. David Campbell MP and Member for Illawarra Marianne Saliba MP officially placing the first rock," Mr Prosser said.

Coastwide Civil Pty Ltd has begun excavation of the beach berm for placement of the first 150 metres of the 360 metre-long northern breakwater. 

The initial 150-metre section of work will get the breakwater down to the mean tide level of the beach. The work is expected to take up to three months to complete.

Coastwide Civil also proposes commencing work on the 240 metre-long southern breakwater next week, running parallel with the northern wall.  Rock will be transported from the northern side of the entrance channel while the entrance remains closed.

Should it be necessary for the authority to open the lake due to moderate rainfall in the catchment, then access to the southern wall will be provided via the eastern end of Reddall Reserve. Work on the breakwater structures is expected to take up to one year to complete.

Environmental management representative, Michael Woolley from URS Australia, carried out a site inspection on 29 June 2006. No issues were identified. Further inspections of the site will be carried out every two weeks.

Public access to the entrance area during the construction phase will be restricted for safety reasons.

Tenders for channel dredging and nourishment of Warilla Beach are expected to be called in mid-July, with work starting in November 2006. Some 200,000 cubic metres of sand is to be dredged from the entrance to form a channel one kilometre long by 100 metres wide and two metres deep. 

With the breakwater structures expected to trap about 50 per cent of the sand that currently feeds into the channel from the Perkins Beach embayment, some shoaling of the entrance channel may occur over time.  However the entrance should remain open for much longer periods.

The group was informed by Alan Beveridge, president of the Warilla Beach Surf Club, that a major surf carnival is planned for the beach on 4-5 November 2006. The authority will ensure that suitable provisions are made during dredging operations to avoid any conflict with beach users.

Further information on the project can be viewed on the Lake Illawarra Authority website: www.lia.nsw.gov.au

ENDS

Contact: Doug Prosser - (02) 4261 1342