Although we often hear about coastal van parks being swallowed up by developers, a van park on the north coast of NSW is in danger of being swallowed up by the sea.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reported that fifteen metres of land has been lost from the foreshores of the town of Kingscliff over the past week as heavy seas pound the coast and part of the Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park is also in danger of slipping away.
Last week, residents of park were told to evacuate as authorities worried that a 12 metre tree near the park may collapse. The edge of an eroding sandbank was only a metre from the tree and a decision was finally made to cut the tree down. Five residents were advised to evacuate.
Since then, an additional four metres of land in front of the van park was washed away.
The Tweed Shire Council had to relocate five cabins, two villas and several caravan sites on Sunday, all under threat of falling into the sea.
Richard Adams, Tweed Coast Holiday Parks Reserve Trust executive manager, is hoping that he can get government funding to help solve the problem.
“We would really love to see the State Government or the Federal Government come to the party with some money so we can get a long-term solution in place to bring the beach back because the beach is essential for the community.”
In the short term, three graders will work on the beach for the next several weeks to build a five metre double wall of sandbags to prevent further sand loss in front of the caravan park.
Hopefully, the government will step in with funds and a plan to save Kingscliff Beach Holiday Park from the sea. It would be a shame to lose another coastal park, albeit for a different reason.
