We are a group of concerned residents, beach users and Burrow Residents Association. We have maintained an effort to highlight the erosion of the dunes at Portrane beach and through meeting with local representatives and Fingal CoCo, initiate action which in the short term arrests the damage being done and to examine and implement a more permanent solution in the longer term.
The brief story at the moment is that Fingal CoCo have assessed and acknowledged the damage which occured in October, November and December last year, but they do not consider that an imminent threat to property exists and no formal remedial work has been attempted. Fingal CoCo have comissioned a survey to be carried out along the beach this year and although this has not yet begun, it is due to start soon and a number of our group have been invited to participate in this.
At a practical level, we have so far organised five work mornings where volunteers have constructed a temporary barrier (using large sand bags) which we hope will dissipate wave power during high tides that reach far up the beach. Hopefully, this will also allow the dune some chance to regenerate behind this barrier. We have restored a safe beach access point at Healys Lane in a manner that protects the surrounding dune area which was being further broken down by people seeking a less risky route onto the beach. We are concerned with maintaining a foothpath through this dune area (the sandladder pathway has been destroyed along this section) which will limit foot traffic to the more sensitive areas as this has in the past been identified as a large contributory factor to local erosion.
We are not suggesting that this initiative is in any way a solution to the bigger issue but we intend to stop the damage at its present state immediately and to try and make this sensitive amenity 'look' a little better and allow visitors a safer access to the beach and boardwalk. Although this work has not been tested by the combination of onshore weather and hightides which caused so much damage last year, we are confident that some protection has been evident during high spring tides so far this year.
We are delighted to welcome any help, suggestions or experience that is 'out there' so please drop us a line if you would like to get involved. Our next work meeting is this Saturday, June 15th between 10am - 1pm, meeting on the beach at the end of Healys Lane.
If you drop us an email to: portraneduneprotection@gmail.com we will add your details to our contact list and keep you informed of where we are at, or you can visit our facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/portranecoastalerosion which we will keep updated with any news on work undertaken or on the survey when it begins
We have gratefully received a few donations from people who were unable to participate in the work mornings but who wanted to help out in some way and if anybody would like to contribute please email the above address or leave a message here. We run some small costs in hire of JCB's and a few work materials.
Thanks again for your interest and we look forward to meeting any new volunteers on Saturday.
Portrane Dune Protection
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