Construction is to begin in the next couple of the weeks on Adelaide's $6.7m coastal walkway designed to showcase some of the city's lovely beaches.
The Witton Bluff Base Trail (WBBT), a 1.37km section of accessible pathway around Witton Bluff, between the foreshore at Christies Beach and Port Noarlunga forms part of the State Government’s Coast Park initiative and the City of Onkaparinga’s Coast Park Plan 2019.
The project is to seal the existing gravel path from the Christies Beach foreshore to the Bluff and continue with a new boardwalk pathway around the base of the cliffs and above the limestone shelf to the Port Noarlunga foreshore.
However it seems the project has had a few challenges along the way.
In 2020 the state government matched council’s $2.65 million commitment to the trail, but the project stalled in 2021 when Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation (AAR), the state government’s lead Aboriginal affairs agency advised Council to seek authorisation under Section 23 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988.
City of Onkaparinga Acting CEO Julia Grant welcomed the decision by Deputy Premier Susan Close as the culmination of a long and rigorous journey to ensure any potential impacts from the trail on Aboriginal heritage and the environment are minimised.
“Ensuring the coastal environment thrives and respecting Aboriginal heritage have been non-negotiables throughout the planning processes for the Witton Bluff Base Trail,” she said.
“It’s pleasing the trail can now move forward, with the Section 23 approval coming amid ongoing discussions with the local Kaurna community about the project, and in the wake of a Coast Protection Board review in 2021, and broader community engagement in 2020.
“These state government approvals are important but have taken considerably longer than anticipated, delaying the project. We will now work with the state government to discuss the significant increase in costs that have occurred over the past two years while council has been waiting for these decisions.”