With summer just around the corner and a bumper beach visitor season on the cards, a popular café at Henley Beach is now at the forefront of the coastline erosion disaster while the Malinauskas Labor Government remains missing in action.
Precious sand is vanishing by the second and no action has been taken to remedy the issue despite warnings from the Opposition in June after several dangerous walkways had to be shut to protect beachgoers. Access points from Henley Beach Rd to Lexington Rd at Henley Beach South are still closed.
Member for Colton and Shadow Treasurer Matt Cowdrey said the local community remains frustrated by the Malinauskas Labor Government’s decision to cancel the sand pipeline project without an alternative plan.
Peter Malinauskas promised to review the problem before the election, but it is yet to begin. Instead, the review is one of 50 announced by the Premier after just eight months in government.
“There has been an erosion of confidence in Labor’s ability to fix this problem and the community wants to know when will Peter Malinauskas pull his head out of the sand and take this issue seriously?” Mr Cowdrey said.
“Summer is just around the corner and we know South Australians love to flock to the coastline to cool off. But at this rate, there will be no beach to visit because sand levels are diminishing by the day.
“The only action taken by the Malinauskas Labor Government is the instigation of a redundant review which hasn’t even started and won’t accomplish anything.
“The former Liberal Government spent four years developing and implementing a solution based on science provided by experts, which saw sand levels finally reinstated at West Beach and a long-term solution to keeping it there.
“That hard work has gone to waste, the problem is getting worse, and Peter Malinauskas is dragging his feet. We need immediate action now. Labor cancelled a project that would have seen sand restored to these beaches and they need to come up with an alternative and quickly.”