Poor Coastal Management Of The Mullins Bay Area As Seen From Space

Three massive groynes seen at top of this photo have contributed to significant
 accretion to the north and devastating erosion to the south in Road View  

For the benefit of new readers who may have landed on this blog as a result of two articles that appeared recently in the local media, the following two short videos explain how groynes interrupt longshore drift creating or maintaining wide beaches on one side but eroding and destroying those on the other side. In 2006 three massive rock groynes (clearly seen above) were built in Road View with the blessing and approval of our local CZMU (Coastal Zone Management Unit). Since then the beach immediately to the south at the back of the abandoned Kings Beach has almost totally disappeared. Next to it to the south, The Great House At Turtle Beach in 2009 was reported in the media spending US$250K on a seawall and rock revetment to shore-up its property (again with CZMU blessing). The contractor who worked on the Great House project also dropped boulders along the beach in haphazard manner (hoping and skipping some properties) under CZMU supervision. The beach in this area is now so eroded that it is impossible to walk except perhaps at low tide. Mullins Beach also (further south of the groynes) has seen significant narrowing to the point where last winter's tourist season was severely impacted. Unless there is urgent human intervention this stretch of coastline will be lost - with all the social, economic, environmental and ecological implications that portends.

 

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