No walk on wild side until 2018

By Duncan Horscroft on February 7, 2017 in News

While most of the coastal repair work is complete following the devastation caused by the east coast low in June last year, the section of the coastal walkway between the Clovelly Bowling Club and Calga Reserve on the northern side of Waverley Cemetery remains closed.

A diversion through the cemetery has been in place for some time due to the landslide with the walkway being taken out of play seemingly due to fears of further erosion.

But many are asking the question as to why there has been no diversion put in place closer to the actual walkway where the ground appears to be stable.

The closure initially resulted in masses of people being forced to traipse between the gravesites before it became evident that damage was being done to the historical site and an alternate route, which directed people up the paved road and back through the middle, was put introduced.

“Alternate routes have been put into place to ensure that you can enjoy this scenic walk safely. Fences have been put up to block damaged and dangerous areas along the walk, detours are in place, and we’ve also put up detour maps in a number of locations along the coastal walk to guide you. Please ensure that you stick to the path outlined in these maps for your own safety,” Waverley Council says on its website.

Waverley Council is responsible for repair work on the cliff face and a cost of $6 million has been mentioned but no actual structural work will begin until September at the earliest.

“For any work to be undertaken all the soil [landfill] will have to be removed and the natural cliff face exposed to be able to anchor any supports,” a spokesperson said.

Enquiries to the Council reveal the project will probably not be complete until June 2018 “depending on DA approval timelines”.

“The project underway is the proposed landslip remediation, coastal landscape and coastal walk restoration. It is important to note that this is an extremely complex project requiring a lot of work to get it right,” Council reported.

According to their timeline technical studies including surveying, soil testing, geotechnical work, coastal engineering review, etc, are complete.

Next month a Draft Concept Design is expected to be submitted and costing is expected to be completed by the end of February.

In April there will be a councillor workshop and report and it’s expected that a concept design will be finalised for public consultation and community consultation will be available from April to May.

Council expect a DA submission to be put in place from June to July with a tender offered to be concurrent with that submission and that construction work was expected to begin in September “depending on DA approval timelines”.