Dredging Underway at Moore Park Beach to Combat Severe Erosion

Dredging has commenced at Moore Park Beach, a regional Queensland beach that has been experiencing severe erosion. The project aims to combat the effects of increasingly powerful weather events, but concerns have been raised about its long-term viability.

At Moore Park Beach, located 400 kilometres north of Brisbane, 5 metres of the foreshore has washed away since Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit in early 2025. A major flood event in March this year further exacerbated the situation. The mouth of Moore Park Creek migrated approximately 200 metres north during the flood, prompting the Bundaberg Regional Council to take urgent action.

The council is relocating the creek mouth. Mayor Helen Blackburn explained that the council had been working with engineers to decide on suitable measures.

"A dredge will be closing one part of the creek mouth and then opening up a different section to allow for the creek to create its own mouth a little further to the south," she said. "This dredge will also take additional sand and nourish Moore Park Beach where the erosion has occurred."

Cr Blackburn stated that the necessary government permits to carry out the dredging work had been granted. It is hoped that the safety fencing will be removed in time for Christmas.

Long-term concerns

Geographer and Sunshine Coast University associate professor Javier Leon suggested that the council needs to consider longer-term solutions for the community.

"I think there needs to be short-term solutions that could include realigning the mouth, for example, but we also should be focusing on medium to long-term solutions because this is not stopping anytime soon. If anything, it might get worse as the decades go on," Dr Leon said.

"It's very site-specific. For example, a few years ago, the study came out looking at changes in the shoreline around Australia and it showed that 50 per cent are eroding and 50 per cent are accreting, so there's no consistent signal that we can take just yet."

Community impact

Moore Park Beach Community Association president Derek Alcorn stated that the erosion had deterred visitors.

"The beach out at Moore Park Beach is the most precious thing we've got for tourists to come out there. It's a beautiful beach," Mr Alcorn said. "Until they get it rectified, it's probably going to be a financial burden against the community."

In 2025, the council was required to demolish the former Moore Park Beach surf club due to the building slipping into the ocean. Mr Alcorn mentioned that, apart from the development of a new surf club several hundred metres away from the old site, there were still two stages of the beachfront redevelopment to go ahead.

"They're on hold at the moment until they can get things stabilised, so there's a lot more benefit to come to the community once they fix the beach," he said.

Long-term planning

From a longer-term perspective, the council has been awarded almost $140,000 in state and federal funding to develop a shoreline erosion management plan. Burnett MP Stephen Bennett stated that the plan required a staged approach.

"That is a strategic document that needs to continue to provide solutions going forward and better inform the council, the engineers and marine scientists about what we do to continue to provide solutions to the Moore Park Beach community," Mr Bennett said.