McEwens Beach Revegetation - Stage 1

Consultation activities undertaken to revegetate a section of the foreshore area adjacent to the McEwens Beach swimming enclosure have now been completed.

Initial consultation activities included a community planning session at McEwens Beach, an online and hard-copy survey, an online mapping tool and meetings with the McEwen’s Beach Progress Association (MBPA).

Based on the feedback received from the initial consultation, the below actions have been outlined:

• Two picnic settings will be installed next to each other on a single concrete slab on the southern side of the walkway that provides access to the swimming enclosure. The fencing will be adjusted to suit the change.
• Additional fencing to the southern side of the current planting area will be considered in the next project stage. This fencing will help to define the walkway access to the beach.
• Investigate the installation of geofabric on the new fencing to protect the planting area, subject to available funding.

During the initial consultation, the community also raised concerns about the proposal to remove coconut palms from the planting area. At the recent MBPA general meeting, additional consultation was undertaken with members to address these concerns and determine a desirable outcome for the community to finalise the scope of work for this project.

Most attendees voted for the option to cut back the coconut palms to their stumps and allow the roots to naturally disintegrate over time. This will provide additional stability to the foredune while the new plantings mature and take over this function. Selected coconut palms within the planting area will be cut back before planting activities take place.

The consultation activities and results have been summarised in the ‘Community Consultation Summary’, which can be found here.

What’s next? Orders have been placed for the propagation of the tube stock (coastal species), installation of new fencing and relocation of the picnic settings.

To receive future updates on the delivery of the project, select ‘Stay Informed’ on the right-hand side of the project page.

If you’re interested in participating in future planting activities, select ‘Become a Volunteer’ and register your details.

We want to thank the McEwens Beach Progress Association and the community for their recent involvement in providing feedback to revegetate the foredune area adjacent to the McEwens Beach swimming enclosure.

Consultation closed on January 21 and council’s Community Engagement team has been working on reviewing the comments received.

Ten attendees registered at the community planning session and provided feedback to council officers. We also received eight hard-copy and online survey responses.

We are pleased to report that there were no objections to the proposed plant species during consultation. This has allowed the Parks and Open Spaces team to proceed with placing an order for the propagation of tube stock (coastal species) with the Mackay Natural Environment Centre (MNEC).

The project team is reviewing the community’s feedback to identify actionable changes to the project's design.

Further updates will be provided, along with the community engagement outcomes, once the report has been reviewed by council.

You can stay up-to-date by subscribing to project update emails. Click on the “stay informed” button on the right-hand side of the project page. You will receive an email afterwards asking you to confirm your subscription.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at McEwens Beach Reserve yesterday to view the proposed project area and provide feedback on the scope of the project.

Your feedback to councillors and council officers is incredibly valuable to us.

If you were unable to attend the planning session, you can still view the project’s concept design here and provide feedback via the online survey and site mapping tool. The survey closes on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 11.59pm.

Feedback from the community planning session and online surveys will be included in the community engagement report which will be available on the project page after the consultation closes.

You can also stay updated on this project by subscribing to its project update emails. Click the Stay Informed button on the right-hand side of the project page. You will receive an email afterwards asking you to confirm your subscription.

If you have a question or prefer a hard-copy survey, call the Community Engagement team on 1300 MACKAY (622 529) or email engagement@mackay.qld.gov.au.

Image from the community planning session shows the proposed revegetation area and attendees.