The Editor speaks: If DoE recommendations are ignored why do we bother to have one?
The answer to my question is probably, “because it looks good on paper”.
The reason for asking this question is because of the latest “Coastal Works Review” issued on January 8th 2020, and prepared to give advice to government not to allow a coastal works application by the owners of the Marriott Beach Resort and several nearby condo complexes.
The owners’ application wants to replace sand on the stretch of Seven Mile Beach immediately in front of their hotel and condos. The beach has been eroded so much over the last few years there is hardly any left.
Their engineering plan proposes to use sand-filed mattresses or geotubes that they reckon will save the beach.
One doesn’t have to use much imagination to conjure up just how ugly this will look.
However, will it work?
The Department of Environment (DoE) says emphatically “No”!
Independent engineer Dr Kevin Bodge from Olsen & Associates, who was contacted by DoE said the proposal is “wholly inconsistent with contemporary coastal engineering practice for beach stabilisation.”
The engineer said it was better to import clean beach sand from the Bahamas, replenish the beach and remove some of the existing seawalls that caused the trouble in the first place. The answer does not lie with introducing more hard structures that are not aesthetic, prone to damage and will further retard the natural seasonal accretion of sand.
The DoE, in their submission against the application, used Dr Kevin Bodge’s findings saying, “It will not achieve the described performance. It will be ultimately deleterious to the Marriott, Seven Mile Beach, and the Cayman Islands. The proposed plan should be rejected by the Government.”
We have a growing problem with beach erosion along the Seven Mile Beach and it is now very serious..
It is not the fault of the DoE who have constantly offered recommendations on planning applications about how to avoid beach loss and coastal erosion.
Their advice has been mostly ignored.
Now climate change and the rise of sea level has made a bad situation even worse.
“Prudent action to ensure the value and attractiveness of the beach along any few single properties along SMB is of great overall value to all of the properties along SMB and the Cayman Islands in general,” the DoE said.
Will government listen this time? If they don’t then close the DoE down. There is absolutely no point in having it there.
