Coastal Management

The City has been successful in securing a number of grants to undertake a range of coastal management activities in response to the ongoing risks presented by coastal erosion.

As part of the monitoring work being undertaken, the City has installed buoys to monitor marine tides, mapped coastline movements and surveyed beach profiles at numerous locations along the coast. Multiple projects are planned, with the goal of implementing engineering solutions to rehabilitate a number of dunes, coupled with the replacement or upgrade of other coastal infrastructure to protect against further erosion.

The City has been successful in securing two different Federal grants from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources - CERMP (Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program) and PACP (Preparing Australian Communities Program).


Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program (CERMP)

The CERMP funding has been received for two projects:-

1. West Busselton Coastal Stabilisation

The aim of the infrastructure project is to provide longer term coastal protection to mitigate the impacts of coastal hazards along the coast between King Street and Gale Street in Busselton. The construction will include a series of new Geotextile Sand Container (GSC) groynes and sand nourishment.

The low-profile groynes will provide stabilisation to the West Busselton coastline and limit the erosion of the established vegetation and potential loss of the coastal road. This technique is used widely by the City of Busselton along the Geographe Bay foreshore.

The works will be undertaken in two stages as summarised below: -

Stage 1 - Groyne 3 (Gale Street) to Groyne 7 (Margaret Street) – Coastal Stabilisation Works

The works will include the following activities: -

  • Construction of 5 low profile GSC Groynes, typically of 40m length.
  • Beach nourishment with imported sand (7,500m3).
  • Refurbishment of the King St GSC revetment (~60m length).

Stage 1 works are scheduled for mid-October 2025 and due to be completed by mid-December 2025. Please note that the King Street carpark will be closed during this time to accommodate heavy machinery and beach access. 

Stage 2 - Groyne 1 and 2 (Gale Street) – Coastal Stabilisation Works

The works will include the following activities: -

  • Construction of 2 low profile GSC Groynes, typically of 40m length.
  • Beach nourishment with imported sand (3,000m3).
  • Beach cleanup.

The Stage 2 works are scheduled for March 2026 and due to be completed by the end of April 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions - West Busselton Coastal Stabilisation

Why do you need to do the works? 

The West Busselton foreshore adjacent to King Street was identified as a coastal erosion hotspot in 2019 as a part of an Assessment of Coastal Erosion Hotspots in Western Australia.

The West Busselton foreshore has been subject to increasing erosion pressure over the past 20 years. Beach amenity is poor with the failure of a concrete boat ramp and rock seawall in recent years, and limited beach width at high tides. There are very narrow buffers to assets including carparks and the coastal road.  

Coastal monitoring using high resolution survey identified the erosion of 140,000m3 of sand from the dunes, beach and nearshore areas between Gale Street and Vasse Drain over the last 15 years. This is equivalent to about 7,000 semi- trailer truck loads of sand.

Historic aerial photography also identified shoreline erosion rates exceeding 0.5 meters per year.  

 

Coastal adaptation works are required to mitigate beach erosion necessary to stabilise the coastline, reduce erosion, and protect infrastructure and public safety into the future.

Isn't coastal erosion a natural process we should leave alone? 

If the area is left unmanaged, erosion will continue, reducing beach amenity, eroding dunes and putting key public infrastructure at risk. There is an increasing risk to assets from coastal erosion including the Busselton Fitness Club Inc carpark, Geographe Bay Yacht Club, public open space, landscaped areas at King Street, the dual use path (DUP) and the carpark and road west of Gale Street.

The City of Busselton undertook a resident survey in June 2020 as a part of the Busselton Coastal Management Program (2021 -2031). The “management and protection of our coastline from erosion” was identified as the most important issue by City of Busselton residents. 

What other options were considered?

Coastal adaptations considered by the City at West Busselton included sand nourishment/beach scraping, groynes and seawalls.

In recent years beach erosion has been managed with beach scraping and sand nourishment. However, with the failure of the rock seawall and boat ramp, increased sand supply costs and high rates of erosion, this option was not considered to be effective in the long term.

Coastal revetments were considered but due to the long-term sediment deficient, there was a concern this would result in loss of the sandy beach in front of the seawall at this location, without coastal stabilisation structures.

What about offshore reefs for coastal stabilisation?

Offshore reefs can provide some degree of coastal stabilisation at some locations. However, they generally need to be relatively large and high to stabilise the adjacent beach as a salient. They are a higher cost structure and more difficult to design and to construct than groynes.

Submerged ‘multi-use’ reefs can have additional amenity benefits (e.g. Albany artificial surfing reef), but are offshore and submerged with limited coastal stabilisation benefits.

What are the groynes made of?

The groynes will be constructed using Geotextile Sand Containers (GSCs) like the largely buried structures at the Busselton Jetty. These structures are designed to blend into the beach environment, are less visually intrusive than traditional rock groynes, soft underfoot, and are partially buried to maintain beach amenity.

I've seen groynes cause erosion before in Busselton, will these do the same?

Groynes can lead to downdrift erosion in Geographe Bay, particularly long structures (e.g. Siesta Park groyne constructed in the 1960s).

The groynes at West Busselton are designed to be low-profile and relatively short to balance ‘updrift’ sand trapping and ‘downdrift’ erosion. Groynes are seeded with initial sand nourishment to limit capture of the natural littoral drift of sand along the shoreline.

Similar groyne fields have been constructed east at the Busselton Jetty (2009), East Busselton (2012) and West Abbey (2024) and have been effective.

Coastal monitoring of the beaches either side of the works will be undertaken as part of a wider 10 year Coastal Management Plan for Geographe Bay following construction.

Why don't you build in winter?

Winter is typically when storms and high water levels are most frequent. Undertaking coastal construction at West Busselton in winter was not feasible due to narrow beach widths, high tides and the risks of storms damaging the works.

Will the public be able to access the beach during the works?

The public will be able to access the beach either side of the works.

There will be a temporary closure of the King Street carpark from mid-October through to December. Parking will be available nearby adjacent to Lou Western oval and beach access to the west. Clear signage and alternative access paths will be provided.

 

2. Vincent Street Seawall Refurbishment

The aim of this project is to refurbish the existing seawall structure at Vincent Street in Dunsborough (just east of Mentor Place heading east towards Lecaille Court), to ensure it continues to provide critical coastal protection for this area. This specific section of the coast has been subject to erosion, with its previously wide beach becoming narrow and being submerged at higher tides. Therefore, these works are crucial to protect the coastal dual use path which provides universal access along the coast, as well as established woodland and other parts of the foreshore.

During this project, the community will be able to have a say on the final visual amenity of the area being reconstructed, this could include landscaping features and some of the materials being used to create these.

The first stage of these works will involve geotechnical investigations during which specialist machinery will be used to dig a number of small test pits on the beach. These are temporary and will be filled in once the testing has been completed. This stage will happen in early August 2025.

When the City has finalised the scope for these works, the community will be invited to comment on the landscaping and associated features.

Final construction will take place in early 2026 (after the school holidays) and is expected to be completed by May 2026.

Preparing Australian Communities Program (PACP)

The City of Busselton was also successful in securing $3,532,500 grant funding in July 2022 from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (Federal) – National Emergency Management Agencies (NEMA) – funding program Preparing Australian Communities Program (PACP). 

This funding was secured for the Geographe Bay Coastal Mitigation Works Project, which is co-funded by the City of Busselton from its Coastal and Climate Adaptation Reserve resulting in a total project budget of $7,065,000 to be implemented over four budget years.

This project is currently in year three of four of its implementation. 

This infrastructure project is anticipated to improve the resilience of the community to flood and tropical cyclone in the social, economic, natural, and built environments by mitigating the risk of coastal flooding associated with tropical cyclone storm surges through emergency planning, impact modelling, dune resilience works and construction of coastal flood mitigation structures in Busselton.

The project outcomes are as follows:

 

Emergency Response Plan

A multi-agency steering group was established for the Preparing Australian Communities Program (PACP) in August 2022.

The City has established Local Emergency Management Arrangements, delineating the responsibilities of various agencies in responding to emergencies within the region, encompassing a diverse array of hazards.

An anticipated outcome of the PACP project includes the updated mapping of the storm surge hazard for Busselton, scheduled for completion by mid-2024.

Wave buoys have been installed in Geographe Bay since 2022 to allow real-time monitoring of storm events. Tide gauges to measure storm surge in real-time are planned to be installed in Dunsborough and the Busselton Jetty in 2024.

Coastal Investigations (Flood Modelling)

The Coastal Investigations component of the project is progressing.
A targeted oceanographic monitoring program (water levels and waves) was completed in 2024, to better understand storm surge behavior in Geographe Bay, and provide a data set for validation of numerical models.
Coastal modelling works have been completed by an external consultant across five stages:

  • Stage 1 - Tropical Cyclone Modelling
  • Stage 2 - Dune Erosion Assessment
  • Stage 3 - Coastal Inundation Modelling
  • Stage 4 - Interaction of Coastal and Catchment Flooding
  • Stage 5 - Mitigation of Coastal Inundation

Dune Resilience Works

Planning, design, and approvals are well underwayfor the dune resilience works.

Environmental surveys (vegetation mapping and fauna surveys) were undertaken by an external consultant in 2023. A Coastal Survey was also utilised to allow development of a coastal vegetation map of the dunes along Geographe Bay, to better understand resilience to storm surges, and plan mitigation works.

Vegetation surveys have been undertaken at two trial sites proposed for Dune Resilience Works (Stage 1) in Abbey and Broadwater.

Dune Resilience Stage 1 was completed in West Abbey and Broadwater in July 2024.

Stage 2 works are planned for November 2024 – April 2025, with the location of the works determined by coastal modelling and lessons learnt from Stage 1 works.

Further information on Stage 1 can be found below.

Coastal Flood Mitigation

The design of Coastal Flood Mitigation works commenced in July 2024. Design and construction of coastal flood mitigation works will be based on recommendations of the coastal investigations (flood modelling). These works include raising drain embankments, stormwater non-return valves and coastal levees (Stage 2 works) to mitigate risk of coastal flooding in low lying areas.

More information on Stage 2 is shown below.

 


Stage 1 Dune Resilience Works

The proposed Stage 1 Coastal Dune Resilience works were undertaken in May/June 2024 in West Abbey and Broadwater. East Abbey Groyne Repair works are scheduled for later in 2024.

West Abbey Coastal Dune Resilience

The work scope was to rebuild eroded coastal dunes west of the boat ramp that collapsed during storms in May 2020, that will provide a natural buffer to coastal inundation. The Dune Resilience Works were undertaken over a narrow 0.4ha area west of the Abbey Boat ramp.
The works at West Abbey included:

  • Communication with residents regarding planned works
  • Demarcation of the work site to protect adjacent coastal vegetation and for public safety
  • Carting and placement of a mix of imported and local sand as a series of dune ridges and swales
  • Planting coastal dune seedlings
  • Installation of beach access matting over the dune whilst the planting gets established

Broadwater Coastal Dune Resilience

These works include the construction of new coastal dune ridges across a potential flood pathway to provide a natural buffer to coastal inundation. The Dune Resilience Works were undertaken over a 0.96ha area West of Dolphin Road boat ramp.

Works were completed in May/ June 2024 to take the opportunity of early winter rains and to increase the survival rate of dune seedlings. 

Beach sand for dune rebuilding was  imported to the dunes and relocated from adjacent beaches where ongoing accretion occurs. Selective planting of native species will be undertaken to both increase the resilience of the dune surface to erosion, and to restore or enhance the ecological function of the coastal dune habitat.

East Abbey Groyne Repair Works

This groyne is a critical piece of coastal protection structure, but it is now damaged and in need of replacement. The City will be removing the timber groyne and replacing it with a new geotextile sand container groyne in the same location to the east of Abbey Boat Ramp. This will be a ‘low profile’ groyne to allow sand to naturally bypass and to ensure there is a minimal impact to the beach environment and amenity. This will be similar to the geotextile sand container groynes that have been constructed west of the boat ramp in recent years.

It is anticipated that these works will commence in November/ December 2024 and be completed within 4-8 weeks, subject to weather conditions.

Additional Information

Coastal Inundation Sketches 1 - Dune Resilience

Coastal Inundation Sketches 2 - Dune Resilience


Stage 2 Dune Resilience Works and Coastal Flood Protection Levees 

The below works are schedule to commence in November 2024 and be completed by April 2025, noting that some of the work will require agency approvals. If the approvals are not received in time some components of the works might not be completed.

1. East Busselton Coastal Paths and Dunes

The scope of works includes the following:-

  1. Dune Resilience Works (Ford Rd to Freycinet Dr) – Construction of stabilised coastal dunes in the foreshore reserve.
  2. Coastal Path Refurbishment – Levee (Wakeford St to Morgan St) – Refurbishment of low-lying sections of the coastal path to improve capacity to mitigate coastal flooding and widening to improve amenity (multi-purpose structure).

Please refer to Annexure A – for a copy of the Drawings of the proposed works.

Works Update - 16 May 2025

  • Works are predominately complete, with a few works still underway, including: new cross – over point at Herring Street to the footpath, furniture installation, line marking and site clean-up.
  • 30,000 low-growing native shrubs and groundcover will be planted in June once the winter rains arrive.
  • Construction of stabilised coastal dunes in the foreshore reserve completed.
  • Coastal path refurbishment has been completed.

2. West Busselton (Vasse Drain) Coastal Path and Dunes

The scope of works includes the following:-

  1. Dune Resilience Works (Margaret St) – Construction of stabilised coastal dunes in the foreshore reserve.
  2. Coastal Path Refurbishment – Levee (Vasse Drain) – refurbishment of the coastal path along the eastern side of the Vasse Drain Diversion to improve capacity to mitigate coastal flooding and widening to improve amenity (multi-purpose structure).

Please refer to Annexure B – for a copy of the Drawings of the proposed works.

Works Update - 16 May 2025

  • Works are predominately complete, with a few works still underway, including: handrail installation, furniture installation, line marking and clean-up.
  • Dune stabilisation has been completed and biodegradable matting for added protection has been installed.
  • 7,000 low-growing native shrubs and groundcover have been planted.

3. West Busselton (Dolphin Road) Coastal Path, Dunes and Drainage Outlet

The scope of works includes the following:-

  1. Dune Resilience Works (Dolphin Rd) – Construction of stabilised coastal dunes   in the foreshore reserve.
  2. Coastal Path Refurbishment – Levee (Dolphin Rd and Craig St) – refurbishment of the coastal path along the eastern side of the Vasse Drain Diversion to improve capacity to mitigate coastal flooding and widening to improve amenity (multi-purpose structure). This includes a vehicle cross-over at the boat ramp approach.
  3. Drain Outlet (Silverglenn Ave): Extension of stormwater outlet with non-return valve, headwall and levee bank.

Please refer to Annexure C – for a copy of the Drawings of the proposed works.

Works Update - 16 May 2025

  • Works are predominately complete, with a few works still underway, including: furniture installation and clean-up.
  • Planting of 2,500 low-growing native shrubs and groundcover has commenced.
  • Dune stabilisation has been completed and biodegradable matting for added protection has been installed.
  • Coastal path refurbishment has been completed.
  • The extension of a stormwater outlet has been completed.

If you've encountered a problem with the website or have any general feedback, please provide comment via this form.

Was this page helpful?

Get Audio Code