Gold Coast council working to restore eroded beaches by Easter after Cyclone Alfred damage

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A staggering recovery effort is set to take place on the Gold Coast. The council wants to restore the famous beaches which have been left unrecogniseable because of erosion.

Transcript

00:00Kilometres of beach line damaged.

00:05The weather may have cleared, but it's replaced the Gold Coast's usually perfect beaches with

00:11cliffs of sand.

00:1380% of our beach is gone into the ocean.

00:17An estimated 5 million cubic metres washed away.

00:22We came down here today to see the beach and got such a shock to see the change.

00:27I can't believe the difference in how much sand has been taken away.

00:31The mayor is confident beaches will be ready by Easter.

00:34Please come and visit us, visit Queensland.

00:38The beach will be open and it will be great.

00:41And he's backed by an expert.

00:43Five weeks, no problem as long as we don't get another cyclone.

00:48Work has already begun.

00:49We will dredge the sand that's in the ocean and shoot it through, pump it through the

00:56sky.

00:57Erosion this extreme isn't expected at the popular tourist destination.

01:02Locals are keen to see the beach return to normal, but some are sceptical of the mayor's

01:07timeline.

01:08I can't see how we'll be back to what it was by April school holidays.

01:12Making the most of what's been left behind.

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