Why is the project being rolled out?

Our coastline is always changing. Cyclonic weather events, rising sea levels and coastal erosion are long term challenges for Port Hedland which require strategic planning to mitigate risk. The construction of sea walls are integral to the Town's risk mitigation response.

In March 2020, Council endorsed the design and construction of seawalls at West End, Sutherland Street and Goode Street. These locations were identified as susceptible to coastal erosion and inundation as part of the Town's Coastal Hazard Risk Management and Adaptation Plan (CHRMAP). This Plan serves as the blueprint for how the Town will respond to the challenges of climate change into the future, identifying the areas which are the highest priority for attention. 

The CHRMAP considers hazards and risks in the immediate term, the current planning horizon (to 2060) and the long-term (to 2120). The Plan finds that risk of erosion to public foreshore, roads and residential properties along Sutherland Street and in the East End of Port Hedland is likely to increase to a point that is intolerable.

If not managed, then over time residential properties and social and environmental values of the public coastal foreshore will be lost as a result of erosion.