At Inverloch, in West Gippsland, hundreds of concerned locals have gathered to demand immediate action to save their beach from erosion. For a decade, the dunes at Inverloch have been creeping closer to the foundations of the town's surf-club.
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00:00It's a common sight to see people flocking to the beach at Inverloch on a hot day.
00:08But today, beachgoers had more than just a frolic in the waves on their mind.
00:15Hundreds of Inverloch residents calling for urgent action to save their beach and their
00:20community.
00:21It's been so disheartening when I lay in my bedroom at night hearing the waves crashing
00:27during a storm and realising that the beach is washing away.
00:33Since 2010, the sand dunes at Inverloch Surf Beach have receded by more than 33 metres,
00:40exposing the surf club, which now sits just metres from the beach, protected only by a
00:46temporary wall.
00:47It was pretty scary because the water's literally starting to come up behind the sandbags and
00:51that is like less than 10 metres from the foundations of the club.
00:56A draft plan from the state government includes a recommendation that people retreat from
01:01their beachside homes if water comes over the dunes.
01:05That sparked outrage in the coastal community.
01:07We've come to the stage now that enough's enough and we just have to do something.
01:13I'm hoping that something will be done before it's too late.
01:17The state government has tried a few things, including trucking in sand to replenish the
01:22sand dunes, and building this wall of massive sandbags as a temporary measure to protect
01:28the surf club.
01:29But locals are demanding a more long-term solution.
01:33It's a quick fix, it's a band-aid and that band-aid now needs to be removed and we need
01:38something more permanent.
01:39The sandbags were put in about four years ago, they've got a life generally thought
01:43to be about 10 years, where rocks are a permanent solution.
01:49The state government's final action plan is due to be released later this year.