A new beach access ramp for Ocean Grove beach

OCEAN Grove’s main beach ramp will be redesigned and rebuilt following coastal damage.

Barwon Coast Committee of Management said the existing ramp was structurally compromised as a result of damaging coastal processes, notably a large storm in 2015 which caused significant local erosion of the sand dune.

Barwon Coast general manager Gary McPike said the ramp needed to be redesigned and rebuilt to maintain safe access to the significant stretch of coastline.

“The current design causes waves to bounce off the ramp and erode the sand dune immediately to its east side.

“We have lost six to eight metres of this foredune in the last 10 years.

“This is, in turn, threatening important infrastructure on the top of the dune, including the main beach car park and toilet block.”

Mr McPike said in the short term Barwon Coast had addressed this issue through erosion replenishment of the face of the sand dune and with protective geotextile sand bags along its base.

“Unfortunately, these are not long-term solutions.

“We will need the community and key stakeholder group’s assistance to make the best decisions on a new design.

“We will be holding ‘Community Open Houses’ in Ocean Grove in July 2018 to showcase information on this project and gather any views or information the community and key stakeholder groups may have on the ramp.”

If you would like to register to be kept up to date on this project, email your contact details to [email protected].