A working bee to help stabilise the crumbling banks of Lewis Island at Narooma is being planned for next weekend and the call has gone out for volunteers.
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Eurobodalla Council is providing the eco-logs made of coir material and also its natural resources supervisor to assist on the day. The idea is to wedge the logs using pegs on the most vulnerable and eroded banks of the sand island.
Sand will be piled up behind the logs and the next stage would involve planting suitable plants behind the logs to add further stability.
The charge to save Lewis Island located just west of the Narooma Bridge from erosion is being led by Chris Young, who lives nearby on Riverview Road.
Mr Young is calling on anyone who cares about saving Lewis Island to attend the working bee that starts 9am on Saturday, October 28. There will be a barbecue afterwards.
“I am hoping a number of younger people can come along and so do some of the heavier work, moving sand around to place behind and around the eco-logs,” Mr Young said.
“But anyone can come along as their will be a range of jobs to do. I am asking people to bring their own wheelbarrows and shovels so they can help shift the sand.”
It was announced by councillor Phil Constable back in June that Eurobodalla Council would going ahead with bank stabilisation works on Lewis Island.
Since then NSW Maritime has also agreed to lower the speed limit for boats in the adjacent channel to reduce the impact of boat wash on the island.
All of this followed an extremely well attended meeting on Lewis Island back in April called by Mr Young to raise awareness that the island was washing away quite quickly and immediate action was required.
At that meeting, concerned people added their name to a mailing list and Mr Young plans to contact these people asking them to come to next Saturday’s working bee. Anyone interested in finding out about more about the working bee and getting involved can contact Mr Young on 0428 764 773.
Since then another bank stablisation project has taken place using the same eco-logs, this time on the foreshore at the nearby Big4 Narooma Easts Holiday Park, with those works initiated by the council and undertaken by the Green Army team.
Stan Gorton
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
Walkley-nominated journalist based at The Islander on Kangaroo Island with an interest in the local community and the environment.
