Ballina Bar.

[murf]

that the dredging of Ballina Bar would be considered as part of a program of dredging along the NSW coast.

that statement doesn't look like anything promising

cheers Murf

[rabbi]

Yesterday on ABC Mid North Coast Rural Report the NSW Primary Industries Minister (Katrina Hodgkinson) announced State Govt funding to dredge Palmers Channel on the Clarence River to give prawn trawlers access to Woolooweyeh Lagoon.

The minister was asked about dredging of the Ballina and Kingscliff Bars. The Minister stated (after the usual - blaming the previous Govt for letting things go) that the dredging of Ballina Bar would be considered as part of a program of dredging along the NSW coast.

So, maybe something will be done.

(Palmers Channel has not been dredged since 1991
Cheers,

I reckon leave the trawlers out of Woolooweyeh as its a juvenile fish habitat and save a few lives instead, but the government wouldnt know which way their arses are pointing at the moment so what would you expect!!??

[deepfried]

Chances are it would only be short term fix anyway. The sand would soon come back.

[samsy]

deepfried your right. Dredging the mouth of teh bar will be a short term solution. As a long term solution they really need to dredge north creek were all of the sand is building up in the first place. In a couple of more years that creek will be compeltely closed.

[stonecold]

Theres also a problem on the southern side of the Sth wall. Hell of a lot of beach there at the moment. Really the spit extends out to where the "old fort" was. Im thinking if the bar was dredged that spit would eventually end up deposited on the bar also.

[rabbi]

The sand is moving all the time and maybe we need a good blow for a week or two??

I remember Harrington which used to have a nice deep channel running along the wall on the river side a number of years back and good jew were caught there.
Then one year it sanded up to the point of no channel at all and we could walk off the wall onto a big sandbank.
Now it has opened back up again.
The sand moves with the tide and wind.

The sand at Ballina does pretty much the same and at one stage we could walk onto a small sandbank at low tide on the sth wall, river side.

The sand at Ballina bar has built up and gone away a number of times and it was sanded up a few years back.

I think it is natures way of saying us humans are not in control of everything.
Dredging will only be a short term solution.

[mattooty]

My sister-inlaw's old man is in charge of the dredging works at Palmers Channel and said he hasn't heard of anything at Ballina or any plans in the pipelines. He said he'd love to get the job and it needs to be done but noone's put anything to paper as of yet.