noosa-heads

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Beach property development in the first half of the twentieth century was of a temporary nature and coastal
construction acknowledged the variability in beach widths. Cyclones reported in 1893, 1910, 1928, 1931, 1936, 1947 and
1954 all created considerable erosion of the beachfront, with the loss of dunal casuarinas on many occasions. The
cyclone seasons of 1947/194856 and 1954/1955 were particularly severe when three cyclones struck in succession each
time57. In both the 1928 and 1947 cyclones, property was either damaged or, in the case of the 1928 event, relocated
away from the erosion scarp58. Photographic evidence shows that these storms cut back within the property boundaries
along Hastings Street59. Additionally the associated flooding in the estuary usually resulted in the breakthrough of the
entrance channel in a more easterly position with the main channel flowing directly into the sea. This caused erosion of
the Noosa Woods spit and flooding of the back lagoon.
By the mid-1960s, substantial property development was commencing at Noosa Heads, with plans to carry out major
reclamation within the estuary for residential development. The major storm events of 1967-1968 caused significant
damage that prompted property owners to dump rocks for protection along Noosa Main Beach and their urging of Noosa
Council to take measures to protect the Hastings Street properties.60
This was consolidated in March 1969 when a rock wall running 820 m along the full length of Main Beach was
constructed by the Noosa Shire Council.61 Following this work, and the consequent extension of the wall ‘...to protect
Noosa Woods Camp Area in July 1969’62, the recovery of the beach was initially slow. In fact, it had not fully recovered
by the time of the storms of 1972-1974 associated with Cyclones Daisy (1972), Emily (1972) and Wanda (1974). In this
period, there was no useable beach at high tide for much of this time 63. These storms caused significant erosion of the
spit at Noosa Heads with major damage being caused there during the floods associated with Cyclone David in January
1976.
Beach nourishment was planned after the 1972-1974 events, but a relatively small amount of sand was pumped onto the
beach, as the Council was unable to afford a complete nourishment exercise.
Following the cyclones and flooding of the mid-1970s, a Beach Protection Authority report in 1977 recommended a river
entrance re-training exercise whereby a rock entrance groyne was established to create a northern entrance to the river.
The results in the report provided evidence that historically the entrance had been dynamically stable until the sequence
of floods, seawalls and Hayes Island development started in 1967. Rocks for the construction of the groyne at the river
mouth were quarried locally at Cooroy. This action caused concern to local residents at the time. ‘Residents in the area
say some of the larger explosions have shaken houses and rattled windows.’ 64 At the same time parents of children
belonging to the Cooroy Pony Club complained to the local newspaper, the Noosa News, that the same explosions
frightened horses and in Cooroy itself, six kilometres away, goods were shaken from shelves in a newsagency. Cooroy
residents also complained that local roads were being damaged by the frequency of heavy vehicle traffic in the area. ‘At
least one bridge in the haul path will need extensive repairs due to heavy traffic.’ 65
The recommendation of the 1981 Beach Protection Authority report was the construction of a 160m long rock groyne at
Noosa Woods with the intention of re-aligning the beach to create a useable beach to the east.
6.10.2       HISTORICAL THEMES
This place is a seawall erected to protect the beach and adjoining property, it illustrates the following historical themes in
the Noosa Shire based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s, Guidelines for Historical and Indigenous Cultural
Heritage Management, dated 2001
4(c) Establishing and developing towns – providing public services: seawall (seawall);
2(g) Developing rural economies - encouraging the growth of tourism: the beach and beachside property
3(b) Developing transport and communication networks and infrastructure - establishing ports, training wall




56
 An interesting series of photographs showing the destruction of the beachfront during this cyclone season is held by the Noosa Shire
Museum, Pomona.
57
  In 1948 Noosa Shire Council received a deputation from the Noosa Heads Anti-Erosion Committee which recommended ‘...that six or
seven groynes, 100 ft. long of turpentine piles, 8 ft. high at the bank, and 2 ft. above the water line at the lower end, would be most
satisfactory method of preventing erosion.’ Noosa Shire Council, Minutes, 14 April 1948, p. 4.
58
     Noosa Advocate, 11 January 1929.
59
     Nancy Cato, The Noosa Story, Wiley, 1989, pp. 97-100.
60
     Cato, p. 71-2.
61
     Noosa Shire Council, Minutes, 22 January 1969, p. 8; 19 March 1969 p. 1; 16 July 1969, p. 1.
62
     Noosa Shire Council, Minutes, 16 July 1969, p. 6.
63
     Cato, p. 75.
64
     ‘Angered by explosions’ Noosa News, 7 December 1978, p. 5.
65
     ibid.