Stabilising the dunes 1970 to 2022

By the 1970s everyone was aware that there was a problem on the Cottesloe coast. The dunes were blowing away and after a winter storm the depot team would be out clearing the sand away from Marine Parade. In 1977 the Beach Occasional Committee recommended fencing the dunes and controlling beach access.

This was very timely as in 1978 Cyclone Alby arrived and large sections of the dunes were lost all along the coast. The solution was sand replenishment and more than 20,000 cubic metres of sand was brought in.

Keeping the sand was problematic and brushing was used to retain the sand, with mixed success. There was some natural regrowth of spinifex along with a lot of weeds and some introduced species such as marram grass were planted.

In 1995 Cottesloe Coastcare was formed. The State government had set up the Coastwest program to support local volunteer groups in coastal restoration. By this time it was recognised that “vegetation was essential for the long term stability of the coast”.

Cottesloe Coastcare’s core focus is revegetation and the success of their efforts in partnership with the Town, can be seen in the following images.

Coastcare presented at the Town’s Coastal Monitoring session in August 2022. You can see our presentation here and the images are below.

Images from the Town of Cottesloe and Cottesloe Coastcare.

For a slide show click on an image.