Cunjurong Point Beach Access Stairs Upgrade - Ottawa St

The Shoalhaven was declared a Natural Disaster Area 14 September 2022 (AGRN 1034) after severe weather and flooding events. This had a major impact on Cunjurong and surrounding communities, causing damages to infrastructure and property. As a result of damages, Council is progressing with upgrades to beach access stairs at Cunjurong Point.

 
Conjurong.JPG
 

About the project

Below:  Beach access stairs upgraded and ready for the summer season.

Cunjurong Stairs Upgrade.jpg

Council is excited to share the news of the completion of the upgrade of the staircase at Cunjurong Point. The upgrade was completed prior to Christmas with Council workers and contractors on site receiving a lot of positive feedback from the community. Council appreciates the patience from the community throughout the planning and delivery of the project.

Below: Aerial view of the completed beach access stairs upgrade works.

Cunjurong beach stairs - Adam - 6Feb24.jpg

Background

The beach access stairs are in a degraded condition after being impacted by coastal erosion. This project involves the replacement of the beach access infrastructure for the purposes of public safety and environmental risk mitigation. The work will provide an upgrade to a Council asset that has been deemed to be at high risk of impacts from coastal erosion hazards while enabling improved public beach access.

The existing stairs comprise predominantly of timber with concrete footings over a steep coastal bluff. The upgrade works will involve construction of a Fibreglass Reinforced Polymer (FRP) replacement stairway with footings to a suitable depth as per coastal engineering design parameters. The extension of the stairway to the sand level will be included to mitigate the potential for risk of impacts from significant coastal erosion events.

The outcomes of these works will provide a safe public beach access, from the main carpark off Ottawa Street, whilst providing enhanced public amenity, meeting Councils obligations to manage the safety, quality and presentation. The works will also provide protection for the natural environment, through access delineation and associated rehabilitated activities which aim to mitigate erosion causing impacts on the surrounding native coastal vegetation. 

These works are progressing under a 1:1 grant funded partnership with the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) under the 2021-2022 Coastal and Estuary Grants Program – Implementation Stream.