Concerned community of Semaphore Park & West Lakes Shore standing up for the protection of their endangered dunes, which connect biodiversity with Tennyson Dunes.

The case for preserving our wild endangered dunes.

About WEDGE

The Wild Endangered Dunes Group works closely with Sandpipers Dune Care Group and together we represent more than 400 home owners surrounding the coast between Third Avenue Semaphore Park and Cormorant Court. The WEDGE Dunes section between Third Avenue and Mirani Court has special circumstances. We are the original coastal dunes first developed by West Lakes Ltd called subdivision IX, with a building set-back just 42m from the high water mark. The mistakes made here by West Lakes Company in 1970, led to all subsequent coastal subdivisions to double their set back to 85m.

Our local dunes are seriously under threat from rising sea levels, storm surges and tidal erosion and measure less than 18m to the high water mark. Coastal Protection Board spends megabucks annually carting 20,000 cubic metres of sand just to protect and maintain them. And yet this is the same fragile environment through which Charles Sturt Council and the State Government plan to bulldoze a 5.5m swathe to create a 3.5m concrete road they call a “Coast Park”.

West Lakes developers originally proposed a road along the foreshore dunes, but when a major storm event washed away all the dunes almost to the building lines, wiser heads prevailed and the idea for a road was abandoned. Title to this foreshore land was subsequently gifted by the developers to council for use as a coastal park which is widely used today by the entire local community. On the seaward side, the park is flanked by native trees which help anchor the dunes and provide protection for nearby homes.

Our existing coast park is maintained by council and in recent droughts the irrigation has been removed. Native grass cover over the sand still supports pedestrians of all ages, bikes, prams and even electric wheel chairs. These wild endangered dunes form a vital northern corridor through to the Tennyson Dunes system and support an important ecosystem which is critical for the movement of native animals throughout the last 4.5kms of metropolitan coastal dunes. Our community deserves a path for bikes, but this should not be at the expense of our precious dunes. There are workable alternatives available as downloads from this site which deliver a win, win for the whole community and preserves our unique coastal dunes for future generations.

Your Last Chance to Speak Out

Council will choose one of the 4 Path Options above. WEDGE URGES YOUR SUPPORT FOR OPTION 1. This is the official recommendation by the Coast Park Community Reference Group that which represents all stakeholders.

Make a donation

If you're able, and want to STOP THE ROAD, we will make good use of any donations to keep up the fight until the concrete road is diverted away from our coastal dunes.

Bank: Westpac, West Lakes branch
BSB: 035055
Account No: 332723