Main Beach Shoreline Project

Surfing has long been part of the fabric of Byron Bay. Council understand the value this activity brings to locals and visitors alike and will consider surfing amenity as one of the key investigations under the Main Beach Shoreline Project.

For each modification option, the impacts on surfing amenity at popular and nearby surf spots, including Main Beach and The Wreck, will be considered. Through the multiple lines of evidence approach, a combination of physical data collection (wave and current measurements), local surfing knowledge, coastal modelling of waves and currents, and geomorphological assessment will be utilised to improve the understanding of local wave and hydrodynamic processes.

Through assessment of data and information, specific conditions will be better understood. For example, bar morphology and metocean conditions required for good or bad surfing conditions. This will be essential to not only infer the interaction between the current (e.g. mini-rips cells) and proposed structures with the nearshore wave and hydrodynamic processes, but will also provide an understanding of long-term wave statistics and a variety of characteristic conditions.

This understanding will ensure that the proposed concept options can be optimised to minimise any potential negative impacts to amenity (e.g. beach width, surfing quality) at an early stage of this project. For more detail on the exact collection of data and coastal modelling, please refer to the consultant’s scope of work.(PDF, 5MB)

Removal of the groynes is expected to increase sand bypassing with gaining of sand (accretion) to the west of the structure and loss of sand (erosion) to the east of the structure. 

Realignment of the structure landward would be expected to see a readjustment of the shoreline with an increase in sand movement from east to west. 

With the shift of the structure off the beach, sand bypassing around the structure would see gaining of sand to the west of the structure and loss of sand to the east of the structure. As such, a considerable landward shift to the eastern shoreline position would be expected.

The next stage of this investigation involves a detailed review of up to three design options. This review will involve coastal modelling and detailed assessment to better understand the expected impacts (positive and negative) to the shoreline and sand movement. More information can be found in the Concept Design Development Report (Bluecoast, November 2020).