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Aberdeen Council rush sea defence project
by George Mojo
17/06/2006:// Surfing Governing body, the British Surfing Association is claiming that Aberdeen Council are rushing through a sea defence project having done NO Environmental Impact Survey?
The organisation is claiming the council have been working on the project since 1999, yet have only made it public in the last 6 weeks, and want to start work in July.
According to the BSA, the plan is to dump 18,000 tonnes of rock on Aberdeen beach, and 70,000 cubic tonnes of sand which will be brought especially in. This will be developed into 50 metre long rock groynes, and 20 metres wide. Each boulder within the groyne will be 4-6 tonnes in weight, the sand that will deposited in the area will constantly move out of the area, and consequently will need to be replenished regularly.
All this without looking at the effect this will have on the environment in the region. The BSA have proposed a cheaper, more environmentally, and economically sustainable solution – yet the Designers and Project Manager have discounted this, and refuse to explain why.
The BSA is an independent, non-profit organisation, which represents the 50,000 surfers in Scotland, and the 500,000 in the Great Britain overall.
The surfing industry in the Great Britain is worth £200 million per year, and the BSA estimates that surfers visiting the waves at the Aberdeen bring in between £500,000 and £1million per annum to the local economy. Yet the council provide them with no amenities and are more than happy to destroy their wave by placing hundreds of tonnes of external material on top of it.
The BSA say the key points to remember are:
1. Reefs which combine coastal protection and surfing benefits (multi-purpose) have already been built, and more are planned worldwide. A multi-purpose reef was built at Narrrowneck on Australia’s’ Gold Coast. This also improved surfing and fishery enhancement and won the Queensland State’s Environmental Award for construction projects. A new reef in New Zealand, funded by a charity for surfing enhancement, has already demonstrated significant coastal protection and fishery enhancement benefits. In the UK, a design for a multi-purpose reef has been developed for Borth in West Wales, which has a similar tidal range. This awaiting approval from the Welsh Assembly. Multi-purpose reefs are now one of two options being considered for coastal protection in Poole Bay.
2. No Environmental Impact Survey has been done – only an analysis. This is a weaker document, and is just the Designer’s (Halcrow) opinion.
3. All of the Environment Agency’s concerned have only had Halcrow’s design pitched to them, none to our knowledge have had a multi-purpose reef option put to them.
4. The BSA have e-mailed Ms Judith Tracy of the Scottish Executive on several occasions in early December 2005 to put our case, she has yet to reply.
5. The BSA is asking to be allowed to fairly have a multi-purpose offshore reef considered as another option, and for all those concerned to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of both proposals.
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