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Home›Surfing›Port Macquarie surf spot, Australia’s ‘bodyboarding capital’, fears threat from breakwater upgrade

Port Macquarie surf spot, Australia’s ‘bodyboarding capital’, fears threat from breakwater upgrade

By Maria Bates
June 23, 2022
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Port Macquarie is known as Australia’s ‘bodyboarding capital’, home to a unique surfing spot, but locals fear it is under threat from repairs to its neighboring breakwater.

Three-time world bodyboarding champion Damian King of Port Macquarie grew up wall surfing.

Damian King at Port Macquarie’s Town Beach where he spent much of his youth.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

“It’s a very special and unique wave that the Port Macquarie breakwater produces, I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere in the world,” he said.

“He’s been promoted not just in Port Macquarie, but in New South Wales and Australia, and even around the world.

“It helped me do what I did and helped the generation before me and after me.”

The New South Wales government plans to upgrade the breakwater wall, which runs alongside the Hastings River, to repair and stabilize the structure and meet current safety and accessibility guidelines.

Rocks of a breakwater in the foreground, with a beach and a promontory in the background.
The beach break is next to the Town Beach breakwater, Port Macquarie.(ABC Mid North Coast: Madeleine Cross)

The surfing community fears the works will change the shape at the end of the wall and impact the iconic surf spot.

“If they follow the proposed plan, I think it will change the water flow and change the sand, and we will lose what we have,” King said.

The government is seeking public comment on the proposal, and a crowd from the surfing community turned out for a community session this week.

A crowd of people gather in an outdoor park.
A crowd, including worried members of the surfing community, turned out for a consultation session on upgrading the Port Macquarie breakwater wall.(Provided: Damian King)

Scott Lawrence of Port Macquarie Boardriders said changes to breeze walls in other areas had an impact on surf spots.

“We’ve had feedback from other places like Tuncurry Breakwater and Ballina Breakwater where they’ve changed the front of the walls and [riders say] it ruined the wave that was there,” he said.

Is the breaking wave threatened?

A wave with a thick lip and brown water, with a bodyboarder in the barrel of the wave.
The rupture of Port Macquarie following flooding and a strong flow of water out of the mouth of the river.(Provided: Damian King)

Professor Rob Brander, a beach safety researcher at the University of New South Wales, said he thought the surf break would not be affected too much.

“Anytime you build something on the coast and change the shape of something, it will always have a feedback effect on waves and currents,” he said.

“But that said, looking at the design, it’s not too different from what’s in place.

View from the water of a wave with a hollow rounded shape.
Damien King said the wave was “world class” and needed to be protected.(Provided: Damian King)

“I think extending it and making it wider will probably just move the break.

“It’ll probably be different. Maybe it’ll be a little bit worse, maybe it’ll be a little bit better. But I still think you’re going to have good waves there.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for Transport for NSW said the “proposed rock placement does not extend into the adjacent river or ocean floor” and that “the footprint of the breaker head -blades will remain unchanged”.

A boogie-shaped plaque saying
Port Macquarie is considered the “bodyboarding capital of Australia”.(ABC News: Emma Siossian)

The spokesperson said maintenance work on the breakwater wall was also undertaken in 2015 and “surfers continued to enjoy surf breaks” once the work was completed.

Concern over loss of ‘iconic’ rocks

There are also concerns about the proposed removal of existing rocks along the breakwater which are covered in personal artwork.

Transport for NSW said the repairs required the graffitied rocks to be replaced and some “reused”.

Pam Green said she treasures a painted rock in memory of her late husband, Ian Green, who was an Ironman triathlon legend.

A woman stands next to a rock on a breakwater, painted green with words in memory of Ian Green.
Breakwater art includes memorials such as that of Ironman Ian Green, which his wife Pam enjoys visiting.(Provided: Green Pam)

Mr Green died while competing in the Ironman swimming event in 2007.

The memorial rock was painted the following year.

“People have done it for me, but it actually means a lot to those who are in Ironman. They’ve all told me they’re touching the rock when they go by,” Ms Green said.

“It would be really disastrous for me [to lose it].”

A rock painted purple on a breakwater, with the words
The breakwater is known for its colorful rock art which will be removed for the planned upgrade.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams said there would be an opportunity for new rock art.

“There will be a blank canvas once all of this work is done, and we encourage people to come back and recreate what was there before because it’s very popular, it’s pretty iconic,” she said. .

The Transport for NSW spokesperson said it would aim to archive the history of the art wall.

“We will be capturing graffiti images and stories before work begins on the breakwater wall,” the spokesperson said.

A view of a beach with a river mouth and a breakwater in the distance.
View of the iconic Port Macquarie breakwater.(ABC Mid North Coast: Emma Siossian)

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