The new concrete area extending seawards at South Cronulla, reducing natural rock platform and beach, is likely to cause damage to buildings, wall and beach.
At high tides, storm-generated heavy seas will roll along the headland and surge over this concrete, which extends further into the ocean. Funnelled by the jutting out wall, the wild sea will then swirl along Cronulla beach, carving out sand and moving it to the rock pools area.
Beautiful Cronulla beach is being reduced in area and natural rock formations, sculptured by nature over millions of years, are being covered with chunks of ugly, angular, potholed concrete.
A snapshot of historic records shows massive storms in 1942 and 1946 destroyed sea walls at North Cronulla and the clubhouse of North Cronulla Surf Lifesaving Club. In 1950, heavy seas collapsed the South Cronulla sea wall along the beach. The replaced wall is further back from the sea. Concrete surfaces are now being built out into ocean area.
Prince Street and houses are built on a sand dune sloping into the sea. Various attempts over the years have been made to stop the sea undermining this, by building retaining walls at the base.
History shows a catalogue of failures.
Fast forward to 2011-12, where work sites extending the concrete area at South Cronulla were overtopped by seas and filled with sand. Steel reinforcement was smothered with salt sea water.
Moving north, more concrete has been laid in a widened path from Elouera to Wanda. More publicly funded concrete roads and tracks are under construction to the new private residential subdivision.
Ratepayers throughout Sutherland Shire (in debt) are paying for all this unnecessary, expensive concreting, which detracts from the environment.
See related story: http://www.theleader.com.au/story/1137047/cronulla-beach-work-queried/