Seawall rebuild to protect unique Moffat vibe

A highly anticipated seawall project is about to begin its next stage.

From May 19, Sunshine Coast Council will be moving into Moffat Beach Park to begin reconstructing the seawall that protects the open space from the ocean.

The seawall needs to be rebuilt after the western section was damaged by severe weather and rainfall in 2022, and the middle section was impacted in early 2024.

Sunshine Coast Division 2 Councillor Terry Landsberg said the loud and clear message was that Moffat Beach was still open for business while the works were being conducted.

“While we recognise there may be some short-term inconvenience, we encourage everyone to keep the much-needed end result in mind,” Cr Landsberg said.

“We also encourage our community to continue supporting all local businesses during construction.”

Cr Landsberg said that while some of the park and car park at Moffat Beach would be taken up by the construction zone, there would still be plenty of space to enjoy for coffee, picnics and taking in the view.

“When it’s finished, we will have a strong seawall, built to modern engineering standards that is resilient to climate change and a refreshed parkland and open space - in other words, a fantastic result that will protect and enhance the unique Moffat Beach vibe for many years to come,” Cr Landsberg said.

“Thank you to the Moffat Beach Community Focus Group representatives for being part of the journey, sharing insights and having constructive discussions on the issues and opportunities the seawall reconstruction project has presented.

“They played an important role, ensuring the voices of the local community were heard and considered as part of the final outcome.

“With construction beginning soon, we again thank everyone for their patience, understanding, and continued support as we begin this exciting chapter.”

Landscape plan results

Cr Landsberg also thanked those who took the time to be involved with the draft landscape plan for the seawall project.

“The landscape plan is now being finalised based on community feedback and it’s going to be a really great result for our community.”

There were 2,949 visits to the have your say page, the team spoke to many people at the pop-ups in the park and there were 117 formal submissions.

The car park will be realigned to create more open space behind the seawall, after receiving 75 per cent support.

Picnic tables, seating benches, beach accesses and showers, garden bed areas and tree plantings will be reinstated.

One of the ideas presented in the draft landscape plan was that of succession planting in the parkland.

Succession planting is the concept of planting new trees near existing maturing trees. So that as the older trees progressively decline (as all natural living things do) the younger trees are more established and have grown ready to take their place.

While 65 per cent of responses were supportive of this idea, among those who expressed their support, many indicated a preference for succession planting using native species with a strong desire to not impact on the open space.

This feedback has shown that this conversation is more complex than initially anticipated and requires a deeper investigation, beyond the scope of this project.

As such, succession planting will not be included in the seawall and landscape upgrade works at this stage.

For a detailed summary of the draft landscape plan feedback please visit haveyoursay.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au.

Moffat Beach Place Plan

Phase 1 Community Engagement - Values and Vision has closed and more than 200 contributions were received from our community. The feedback is currently being analysed and Council will be checking back in with our community in June to ask ‘did we get it right’? Visit haveyoursay.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au for a more detailed summary of the feedback.

Moffat Beach Railing Renewal and Enhancement Project

Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide feedback on the Moffat Headland Railing Renewal and Enhancement Project. Our team is currently reviewing all the input received and will provide an update soon.

Challenging work conditions

Rebuilding a seawall is a significant undertaking and working in the tidal zone is very challenging.

This seawall reconstruction will take longer and is more complex due to designing the seawall around the Norfolk Island Pine trees, as requested by our community.

The construction team are also at the mercy of the weather, and while there is a construction schedule, it needs to be flexible and may need to move to areas with more sand or better working conditions.

During construction you can expect trucks bringing in materials, excavators on the beach building the seawall, contractors performing tasks such as concreting and staircase construction along with some noise and vibration.

Temporary changes and safety

There will be some temporary access restrictions in the park and on the beach due to construction activities.

There will also be less parking available during construction. This could be a great time to switch to riding a bike to the beach, or maybe taking advantage of the 50 cent fares and catching the bus down to Moffat Beach and continue supporting the great local businesses.

Please follow safety signage and avoid the construction zones to keep everyone safe.

Construction is due to be complete end 2025 or early 2026, weather and site conditions permitting.

Council has developed a Moffat Beach Business Continuity Plan to support local business during construction.

For all the construction details, a full project background and to sign up to receive construction updates visit Council’s website and search for ‘Moffat Beach seawall reconstruction project’.

Funding assistance has been provided through the jointly funded Commonwealth-state Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).