8.  PROBLEMS

1.0 - LOSS OF PUBLIC SPACE

  • Takeover of public water and space by a private company-Mornington Yacht Club through the Mornington Boat Haven Ltd.

Blairgowrie Marina. Drawing showing lay-out which is very similar to what is proposed  by  Mornington Yacht Club for Mornington. It was also designed by Sinclair Knight Mertz, Mornington Yacht Club’s consultants.
Blairgowrie Marina- is a Private Marina . Similar locked gates are proposed for the Mornington Yacht Club’s private marina .

Blairgowrie Marina-Swimming and diving in and around the Marina is discouraged for safety reasons. Similar prohibitions are likely to be imposed for the Yacht Club’s proposed Marina because of safety issues.

Blairgowrie Marina- “ NO FISHING” in marina.

Blairgowrie wave screen. Estimated to be about one metre lower than the wave screen proposed for Mornington Yacht Club’s Marina. The public walkway proposed for Mornington’s wave screen would appear to be located  about head height on the people in this photo.

Blairgowrie Marina . Back of wave screen and reinforced concrete crossheads on which Mornington Yacht Club proposes to provide a public walkway. There will be issues of public safety, duty of care and public liability, particularly during storms, if this is approved.

 

  • If the proposed marina goes ahead, a much loved community space will be replaced by a restricted recreational facility for the benefit of a few.

Scuba divers kitting up at Mornington Harbour.

Scuba divers at Mornington Harbour- a very  popular dive location.

Mornington Harbour with Scuba divers, commercial fishing boats, anglers on the seawall, spectators, visitors and walkers.

 

2.0-ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

2.1 SAND MOVEMENT

Natural movements see North winds push sand from Shire Hall Beach south towards Scout and Mothers Beaches in the winter and in the summer south-westerlies move the sand back north towards Shire Hall Beach. If the Marina goes ahead, this natural process will be interrupted and, predictably result in sand gradually accumulating inshore of the proposed concrete wave screen walls that will be driven into the sea bed, and thus reduce water circulation.
The consequences will be sand accretion at Mothers and Scout Beaches, with sand depletion at Shire Hall Beach. The profile of Mills Beach may well be affected too.
The examples of the Marinas at Blairgowrie, Sandringham and St. Kilda Harbour which show what can happen over time, must be heeded.

February 2008- Panoramic view of Blairgowrie Marina- Accumulated sand has invaded the sheltered waters, and developed into a large sand-spit.

Sand has been stripped off Hampton Beach and moved along-shore to Sandringham Marina, where it has  formed large tidal flats, replacing what was Sandringham Beach  and moving the shoreline some 200 meters northwards since about 1970.

Southern end of Hampton Beach at Sandringham showing protective rock beaching to control erosion of the shoreline caused by development of Sandringham marina, which is very similar to Mornington Harbour in shape and size.

Brighton Marina with rotting, smelly  seaweed deposited on southern flank of the sandspit which has formed there over the years.

Brighton Marina- large seaweed-covered tidal flats formed over the years on the northern side of the sandspit by sand trapped within the marina due to reduced water circulation. Rock beaching has been placed along the shoreline to protect adjoining properties from erosion.

Aerial view of shore line at Brighton Marina on real estate bill-board showing accumulated sand deposited to form a very large and intrusive sand spit.

Enormous volumes of sand have accumulated over the years at St. Kilda Harbour after the large rock breakwater was constructed in the 1950’s. Since that time there has been a constant issue of seaweed accumulating and rotting, stinking seaweed. Below the immediate surface the sand is dark grey and stinks because of the anaerobic conditions.

2.2 DREDGING

  • During  the mid-1960’s a seawall was built at Mornington, extending from Mothers Beach to Fishermans Jetty to allow land filling for development of car-and-trailer parking at the new public boat ramps, as well as the Mornington Yacht Club’s leased area containing club building, hard-stand yard, a public slip-way and wash-down area, etc.

Panoramic view of Mornington Harbour –26 December 2009 showing the seawall built mid-1960’s from Mothers Beach to the Mornington Pier, boat- and- trailer  carpark,Mornington Yacht Club’s yard filled by a variety of boats on trailers, Yacht Club building, ‘The Rocks’ restaurant and control tower, public launching ramps, Inner Harbour, Fishermans Jetty and Historic Pier with anglers and sight-seers. Also a number of yachts in the Harbour on their swing moorings.

  • As a consequence, sand gradually accumulated at the southern end of Mothers Beach and off-shore to the extent that dredging was carried out about 8 years ago to ensure boats could continue using the boat ramps.

 

  • Again, more  sand has accumulated and a dredge arrived late in December  2009. It commenced dredging sand and seaweed from in front of the boat ramps onto the southern end of Mothers Beach between Christmas and New Year.

Dredge set up off public boat ramps at Mornington, 29/12/2009

 Dredge pipeline set up to discharge sand and seaweed onto Mothers Beach.

People enjoying  Mothers Beach, wading, swimming, picnicking,having a game of beach cricket. Their enjoyment spoiled to some degree by the grey , smelly sand and seaweed dredged from the harbour and dumped onshore- 30/12/2009.

  • The dredge sank New Years Eve during wild weather.  It was salvaged and  stored in the Yacht Club’s yard, near the pedestrian walkway and  seawall. It was left there, continuously leaking oil  for almost three weeks before it was finally removed. The oil had by then run out of the yard and across the pedestrian walkway, before it was washed into the harbour by rain during the night of 18 January 2010. The dredge was removed shortly afterwards. 

12/01/2010-7.36 a.m. – Replacement dredge ‘Lewinski’ tied up alongside the slipway at Mornington

  • A replacement dredge-the “Lewinski” was then brought in, but did little work.  

 

Dredging in Sandringham and other marinas in Port Phillip Bay has certainly failed to control the problem of sand accumulation, which is already a demonstrable problem in Mornington Harbour- even before a marina has been  built.  

2.3 -WATER QUALITY
 

  • Pollution and degradation of the seawater will result because of reduced water circulation caused by the proposed concrete wave-screen walls that will extend down into the sea bed.

  • Accumulated sea weed rotting in the shallows will  produce anaerobic conditions and a smelly environment.

   

Sand has been stripped off Hampton Beach and moved along-shore to Sandringham Marina, where it has  formed large tidal flats, replacing what was Sandringham Beach  and moving the shoreline some 200 meters northwards since about 1970.

A high percentage of the proposed berths will likely be used for power boats- as is the case in most other marinas along the East coast of Port Phillip Bay. Normally only 2 or 3 motor vessels have been observed regularly moored on the swing moorings in Mornington Harbour.

Massed motor boats at Blairgowrie Marina with wave screen, pontoon walkway and ramp down from locked gateway in background.

Massed boats at Blairgowrie Marina blocking view of coastline and Bay to the west.

Power boats leave fuel, exhaust and lubricant residues in the sea water.

  • A pontoon is proposed for refuelling and sewage pump-out. Refuelling in itself will attract more power boats into Mornington Harbour, resulting in further water pollution. The risk of leaks and spills from fuel and sewage is unacceptable in such a small harbour, which is also used by so many of the public for many other activities.

Two examples  of large power boats visiting Mornington Harbour .

    • Changes in fish population due to night lights and the wave-screens creating different aquatic conditions.

 

    • Increase in feral population of starfish and weeds due to the protected, reduced circulation of seawater within the marina.

 

3.0- AMENITY LOSS

  • The visual surroundings and atmosphere of the Harbour Precinct will be totally altered.

 

  • Views from the Pier, foreshore and beaches will be obstructed by the 4m high massive concrete wave-screen wall which will stretch across in front of Mothers and Scout Beaches.

  • Mornington Harbour today is at the heart of Mornington’s identity. Next year Mornington celebrates its 150th. Anniversary of being declared a township-Schnapper Point was Mornington’s early name and the Harbour its focus. This unique historic and beautiful natural harbour would be dramatically altered if the proposed Marina should go ahead.
13/12/2009- Mornington Harbour- Kiosk carpark filled to over-flowing.

13/12/2009-Mornington Harbour- Acces road to boat ramps filled with parked cars. Note the Yacht Club’s storage yard is filled with various trailer-sailers in dry berths.

  • Mothers Beach will no longer be a safe or pleasant swimming beach due to increased sand accumulation, rotting seaweed, increased number of boats, including many power boats, and increased water pollution.

1/5/2009-Panoramic view of Blairgowrie Marina at low tide, showing development of a very large sandspit encroaching on the Marina since  its completion in 2000. Original high tide shore line is the strip of pale sand just above the tops of the shrubs in the foreground. Note the abundance of swing moorings available to either side of the marina- 350 of them !

016.JPG- Blairgowrie Marina- 1/5/2009-Washing accumulated sand off the slipway rails.

4.0-TRAFFIC CONCERNS

Already there is traffic and parking congestion in the Harbour Precinct. 

  • Sinclair Knight Mertz ( SKM) estimates that 64 more car spaces are required for the proposed marina. This is a gross under-estimation of requirements, based on the Australian Standard for Design of Marinas, AS 3962-2001. However, they conclude that there is no possibility of increased parking availability.

  • Council is proposing 2 hour meter parking to help deal with this problem.

 

  • SKM proposes a shuttle bus be provided for Yacht Club members  on Saturday yacht club race days. It is hard to believe that this is going to be an attractive option for people who want to spend the day on their boats.

  • It is to be noted that a shuttle bus was a condition of the planning permit granted to the Mornington Yacht Club for the development of the “Rocks” restaurant. The Yacht Club later appealed against this condition at V.C.A.T. and won. Hence there has never been a shuttle bus.

 

5.0 ONGOING MAINTENANCE

  

Martha Cove Harbour-3/5/2010- Less than one-third of its 352 berths leased. Some 30 yachts were transferred here  from swing moorings at Mornington when owners heeded Bureau of Meteorology’s warnings of a second storm in 2008, after they had earlier disregarded the Bureau’s storm warnings up to three days prior to the 2 April 2008 storm which dislodged, smashed and washed ashore a large number of yachts.

If Mornington Boat Haven Ltd. went bust, who becomes responsible? It is understood that with the financial difficulties at the Martha Cove Development, including Martha Cove Harbour, there is the likelihood that the State Government will need to pay for, on a continuing basis, the dredging, pumping and cleaning out of the existing waterways and pens there at high cost to the taxpayer. So Mornington could possibly be faced with similar costs for the public.

042.JPG-2/4/2008-Mornington after the storm.

040.JPG-2/4/2008-5.55p.m.-Mornington Harbour as the storm is spent and has swung more towards the south-west .Note there are still 27 or 28 boats left safely on their swing moorings ! They must either have had better moorings, been more recently overhauled, or the moorings may have been better laid .Who knows?

2/4/2008-3.50 p.m.-Martha Cove Harbour during the peak of the storm—DEAD CALM, with an abundance of vacant berths waiting to be filled !


6.0-DANGER BECAUSE OF MORNINGTON HARBOUR’S LOCATION

Mornington Harbour is located on the south-eastern coastline of Port Phillip Bay, on the up-thrown side of Selwyn Fault which extends from Bass Strait, crosses the lower Mornington Peninsula immediately west of Cape Schanck and then across the Southern Peninsula to enter Port Phillip Bay at McCrae and then it runs close to the east  coast past Mt. Martha, Mornington and on to Olivers Hill at Frankston, and then inland in a nort-easterly direction towards Hampton Park.

This means that the seabed drops off sharply to about the 8 to 12m depth contours just west of Schnapper Point before the seabed slope becomes more gentle, gradually extending to about 20m below sea level, several kilometres out.

The combination of a sharply rising seabed immediately west off Schnapper Point and the long distances for winds and waves across Port Phillip Bay ( Known as the ‘Fetch’) cause very large waves to arrive at Mornington when strong winds and storms occur.
 
For instance, 43 km Fetch from Point Lonsdale, SW of Mornington, 30 km Fetch from St. Leonard, approximately W of Mornington, 43 km Fetch from Werribee, NW of Mornington, 46 km Fetch from Hobsons Bay, NNE of Mornington.
Also, strong winds and storms arriving at Mornington push the seawater across Port Phillip Bay towards Mornington due to the friction between the wind and seawater, giving rise to storm ‘Surges’ which may cause sea levels to rise an additional 0.25 to 0.3m above normal tide levels at any one time. As a consequence, the deck of the platform for disabled sailing has several times recently been observed to be awash, and even inundated.
This naturally means that Mornington Harbour will NEVER provide a ‘Safe Harbour’.

7.0 – CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change may alter the seawater levels, given the anticipated rise in the decade and longer, possibly requiring further construction to raise the tops of the wavescreens; climate change implications must be considered under State and Council laws and regulations. After all, marinas are not built just for the next ten or twenty years, but many will still be there for the next fifty to one hundred years.

 

8.0 ALTERNATIVES

There has been no serious consideration of alternative options to the proposed marina inside Mornington Harbour, including:

  • The option of doing nothing

 

  • Leasing a permanent berth at Martha Cove Harbour ( where only about one third of the 352 berths available for lease are occupied), whilst still retaining a relatively inexpensive swing mooring at Mornington

 
Photo of Martha Cove Harbour

  • Temporarily relocating boats to Martha Cove Harbour to one of the 22 already available “ Safe Haven” berths there (as a condition of the Martha Cove planning permit) when adverse conditions are forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology. It is understood that Martha Cove Harbour even provided  a ‘Special Deal’ for the Mornington Yacht Club yachts in 2008, for the storm which occurred after the disastrous storm in April 2008.

 

9.0- COUNCIL CONCERNS

  • Mornington Shire Council has stated that it was NOT involved in the proposals to determine the most satisfactory solution to demands by Mornington Yacht Club- even though it is likely to cop much of the flak if the proposal goes  ahead despite all of the anticipated problems. Parks Victoria also did NOT engage Council in discussions despite the fact that Council manages the Pier and Harbour waters.

In 2009, Council commissioned Coastal Engineering Solutions PL, an independent consultant, to carry out an assessment of some of the technical aspects of the Mornington Yacht Club’s proposal. They undertook modelling and concluded that:

  • There is potential for siltation on the seaward side of the beaches in the lee of the wave screen walls such as has occurred for more than 50 years at St. Kilda Harbour and Brighton Marina

 

  • Without sand management, Mothers Beach will accumulate sand at the expense of Shire Hall Beach. Mothers Beach may become wider and the waters shallower, so that swimmers may be in danger of being forced into the path of boats using the public boat launching ramps.

Alternatives to the full marina development proposal were considered – and put to Mornington Peninsula Shire Council  by Coastal Engineering Solutions P/L as follows:-

  • A short wavescreen along the Pier, purely for its protection, provides very limited benefit for protecting the public boat ramps. But there is negligible impact on local beaches.

 

  • A short wave screen improves protection midway between the public boat ramps and the Pier and at Fishermans Jetty, but for about “ 10 % of the time” the wave conditions at the ramps will still exceed Australian Standards recommendations.

  • The full wave screen along the Pier improves the usability of the existing ramps, but does not meet Australian Standards. However, a long wave screen will impact on the beaches.

 

  • If the boat ramps are re-located as proposed, a full-length wave screen will result in reduced wave heights at these locations most of the time.

  • Offshore break structures will result in the same detrimental changes to the beaches, as will the current proposal.

 

  • A near-shore wave break or wave screen seaward of the boat ramps would need to be 100m long just to provide wave protection for the boat launching ramps and to meet Australian Standards Guidelines. The cost would be in excess of $1 Million. Mothers Beach would also again be impacted.

 

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