Pictured above Nelly Bay Harbour - King Tide 2024
August 2024
Townsville City Council is responsible for maintenance of the canal sections in Nelly Bay Harbour.
Hydrographic surveys show dredging is required to restore the canal sections to their original design levels.
Carrying out this dredging maintenance will include:
Preparing Council’s Kelly Street site for the management of dredged material
Dredging Nelly Bay Marina to remove around 10,000m3 of material from the canal sections
Moving the dredged material from Nelly Bay Marina to the Kelly Street site and managing
the material for the purpose of recycling.
Using the recycled material across the island for various purposes.
Work to prepare our site at 55-77 Kelly Street has started and will continue in stages up until we begin dredging. This will include fencing and the construction of embankments and walls to form barriers to retain and manage the dredged material in accordance with Council’s approved environmental consent.
Once the proposed site layout and management plans are complete, including details of how the work and storage will meet all environmental approval conditions, Council will share more information with local residents and listen to any community concerns.
Actual dredging work will begin before the end of this financial year and is expected to take around two months. Dredging must be carried out at the appropriate time to minimise impact on the marine environment (i.e. not impacting coral spawning), and to also maintain access to the marina and canals during significant events such as Magnetic Island Race Week.
If you have any questions about this work, please contact the project team during business hours on 13 48 10 or email enquiries@townsville.qld.gov.au.
Contact: Matt Schembri – Principal Major Projects
Thank you for your patience during these necessary works.
This issue was raised at the August MIRRA meeting. TCC stated that community consultation will take place once the scope of works is finalised.
However, neither TCC representatives nor any of the local and state members could provide a reasonable explanation as to why the TCC have used the exact same definition for 'High Impact Industry' in the 'Community Facilities' definition, on their website.
This is completely different to the definition on the QLD State Government's website, which is lawfully the correct definition. It would appear that TCC are misleading residents so they can have the zoning changed to use as they please, which is to dump the dredged waste material, illegally in an area zoned "Community Facilities".
Rightfully, the…
Last year 5 residents from the Island attended the State Govt Community Cabinet - the MCN met with Health Minister Shannon Fentiman to lobby for a new purpose build health clinic to be build on the Kelly St land which is zoned Community Facility. TCC says it will dump the dredge material from harbour? We are asking where was the Community Consultation regarding this decision?