Following almost a decade of collaboration with Hinchinbrook Shire Council, Milford Planning are thrilled to have secured State approval for works to provide all-tide access to Enterprise Channel at Dungeness.
The approved works include the dredging of Enterprise Channel and the construction of a rock breakwater, to provide sustained all-tide access to and from the Dungeness boat ramp. The purpose of the project is to prevent excess sediment build up in Enterprise Channel, which connects the Dungeness boat ramp to deeper waters of Hinchinbrook Channel and beyond. The approvals process involved undertaking extensive coastal dynamics modelling to determine the effectiveness of the proposed rock breakwater design, and scientific studies to determine and manage the impact the project will have on marine plants. The material dredged as part of the process will be reused on Dungeness Beach to replenish historic erosion in the locality.
Mayor Ramon Jayo expressed the importance of the project and benefit it would bring to the region, stating “We have enormous potential to go ahead as a tourism district and tourism is one of the things that we believe is vital to our economic survival … we believe that tourism will flourish because of the ability to get out of a major port at all times.”
Securing this approval assists Hinchinbrook Shire Council in progressing a key project that has been on the agenda for decades, with the project to realise the social and economic benefits of reliable access to Hinchinbrook Island, the Palm Island group, and the Great Barrier Reef.