Marine Dredging Project
Facilities Closure for Marine Dredging – Tumby Bay Marina and Port Neill Boat Ramp
The District Council of Tumby Bay will undertake marine dredging at Tumby Bay Marina and Port Neill Boat Ramp in early 2025. This important initiative is designed to tackle restoration of water depth through removal of accumulated sediments to enhance navigational safety at these key marine facilities.
For comprehensive project updates, please visit: https://www.tumbybay.sa.gov.au/community/recreation-and-tourism/marine-dredging
Project Overview
This dredging project is supported by a grant of $248,744 from the Australian Government’s Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program.
The project aims to:
- Tumby Bay Marina: Restore design water depths in specific locations. This will resolve sediment accumulation issues and greatly improve navigational safety and accessibility for all marine users.
- Port Neill Boat Ramp: Removal of accumulated sediments and restoration of design water depth to allow safe access at all tide states for recreational and emergency services users.
Current Project Status
- Development Approval: Planning consent and building consent has been granted for both Tumby Bay and Port Neill sites.
- Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) Licence: Council’s EPA dredging licence has both Tumby Bay Marina and Port Neill Boat Ramp works added to this licence.
- Dredging Management Plans: These plans will offer detailed insights into the proposed works, dredging operations and procedures.
Timeline and Operations
While the exact dates for work are still to be confirmed, initial discussions with contractors and the requirements outlined in the approvals suggest the following dredging timeline:
- Tumby Bay Marina: Dredging is expected to begin in February or March 2025, depending on weather and operational conditions, with an anticipated duration of up to 4 weeks.
- Port Neill Boat Ramp: Dredging is expected to begin in April 2025, also for a 2 to 4 week period, contingent on weather and operating conditions.
Council will aim to avoid works during peak holiday periods to minimise disruption where possible. During the works, these sites will be temporarily closed, which we understand may cause short term inconvenience. However, the work is expected to be completed within a relatively short timeframe, and we will reopen the facilities as soon as possible.
Impact on Facilities and Access
Details regarding the impact on facilities during works, including closures and access restrictions, will be updated once all the required approvals are in place and the commencement date for the dredging works is confirmed. Our frequently asked questions document will assist to answer some current common questions.
Notifications and Consultation
As part of Councils development approval application and EPA licence application process relevant sensitive receivers were directly contacted by the EPA with opportunity to provide feedback. Port Neill was subject to public consultation period through Planning SA for the development application between 20/06/2024 and 10/07/2024.
Further notification for the dates for work will be updated on our website and through social media with relevant sensitive receivers to the dredging works notified via mail.
More Information
Further updates will be provided once contractor schedules are confirmed. Additional details and current available documents can be found below: