AFTER the storm event at Inverloch, in the days leading up to Sunday, September 1, Jordan Crugnale formally asked the government, in parliament on September 10, what it was doing to support the Inverloch community.

The response from the Minister for Environment Steve Dimopoulos MP came back last Thursday, September 26.

Jordan Crugnale: My question is to the Minister for Environment. How is the government supporting the Inverloch community following the extreme weather conditions across the state recently? We saw a one-in-10-year storm surge event which has caused damage to Victoria’s land and coastline.

I want to thank our fantastic emergency services members, local community groups, land managers, councils and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action working to help our community in affected areas.

I visited the Inverloch surf club several times, met with club reps to discuss coastal erosion and damage and the cape-to-cape resilience plan, which has mapped out and modelled the adaptation pathways from present day to 2100. The C2C plan clearly outlines the present-day pathway being nature-based dune enhancement and restoration, which is an engineering solution, and this is what is being done, and the design’s tender process is also underway.

I look forward to informing my community on what we are doing to best address the impacts on the Inverloch coastline, backed by science and informed by experts.

Steve Dimopoulos MP Minister for Environment: I thank the member for her question and for her advocacy following the storm event. The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action is preparing to undertake nature-based engineering works that align with community and stakeholder values shared during development of the draft Cape to Cape Resilience Plan.

The department is collaborating with a working group of land and asset managers, who are also party to the Inverloch Regional and Strategic Partnership, to complete emergency response works on Inverloch Surf Beach to make the area safe and replace some of the sand lost during the August and September storms.

This working group includes Bass Coast Shire Council, Department of Transport and Planning, Parks Victoria and the West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority.

Community and stakeholder feedback was strongly in favour of maintaining the natural beach and not undertaking hard (rock/sandbag) engineering interventions which would negatively impact beach amenity and use. Consequently, the initial adaptation pathway for Inverloch Surf Beach aims to engineer and reconstruct natural dunes and transition land use so the natural (environment) can continue to maintain its important community, social, recreational and tourism values.

The department engaged coastal engineers in March 2024 to undertake an offshore sand sourcing study to investigate the availability of appropriate sand for use in dune reconstruction at Inverloch Surf Beach.

Tenders are presently being sought from coastal engineers to design the reconstruction of the dunes which will provide a protective buffer for the coastal reserve and infrastructure therein, whilst longer term land use planning and transition is underway. This important engineering project aligns with the values shared by the community and stakeholders during the Cape to Cape Resilience Project’s engagement activities in 2021-23. The draft Plan is presently out for public consultation.