In the early 1990s, Gosford City Council became concerned about the stability of the 80 m high Tudibaring Headland at Copacabana NSW, and the effect of the several large caves within the headland on the existing residential development on the headland area.
Consequently, Shirley Consulting Engineers was engaged by the Council to investigate & study the geology and stability of the headland, with the view of reporting to Council on the potential long-term recession of the headland, and any necessary restrictions on future development on the headland area itself.
SCE undertook the investigation using specially devised “slow descent” abseiling methods [that enabled both photography and field sketching during the descent], and subsequently reported to Council on the headland stability, likely rate of cliff recession and potential effects on the residential development on the upper part of the headland.
As a part of the project, SCE produced a documentary video of the study to enable appropriate community consultation regarding the Tudibaring Headland stability issues.
As a result of the SCE work, Council has now implemented specific guidelines as to the constraints on residential development [both in terms of footing design and headland set-backs], which have been adopted by the Council in planning future development near the headland.
The study can be downloaded / viewed from our community downloads page and the associated documentary video can be viewed from our videos page.