Cyclone Oma’s Long Reach with Reflections Continuing Clarkes Beach Clean Up
Clean up and safety measures to battle the effects of severe dune erosion continues at the Reflections Holiday Park at Clarkes Beach with works going full steam ahead to ensure guest safety and protection of millions in park assets.
Reflections Holiday Parks CEO Steve Edmonds said Cyclone Oma, which ripped through the region earlier this year, was the catalyst for this further destruction and destabilisation of the dunes with King High Tides and rough surf conditions continuing to erode the dune base.
“Our top priority is always guest safety, so this past week has been about assessing the extent of the erosion, cordoning off unsafe areas and demolishing the current guest lounge which was in imminent danger of collapsing down the dune face,” Mr Edmonds said.
“We have been working closely with relevant authorities including ArborSafe, Marine Parks, Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), Byron Shire Council and the Arakwal Corporation of Byron Bay.”
Moving forward Reflections will continue to focus on safety and getting the popular holiday park back on track including:
- Ensuring ‘no go’ zones around the destabilised dunes are maintained.
- Implementing a program of tree safety with ArborSafe to reduce risks associated with damaged trees along the dune face
- Temporary sandbagging at base of the dunes to provide time to work on a rehabilitation and planting program across the dunes
- Further monitoring of five cabins along the dune face with planning in place for relocation should future erosion events occur.
Park Managers Chris and Tracey Maclean said guests have been very supportive and understanding of the dangerous situation we have found ourselves in and have been very grateful for the prompt response by Reflections to the safety issues at hand.
“We feel very confident that our team can work throughout the next couple of weeks to continue to provide top-notch holidays and guest experiences,” they said.
