Below: 3 houses can no longer see the sea. Taken 14 January 2025

Read: Profesor Tom Hecht’s article, Talk of the Town 10 January 2025
The following article was published by Talk of the Town with minor changes on 16 January:
Professor Tom Hecht’s letter raises some valid points, and he is quite correct in cautioning against the use of dune stabilization. However, the situation at the small and now nonfunctional headland bypass dune system (HBDS) is significantly different to the situation at St Fancis Bay. Here a very large and extensive headland bypass dune system, orders of magnitude larger than the one at Kenton-on-Sea, was stabilized to allow for the developments at Santarema Bay, staving the beaches of windblown sand.
The Kenton system has not functioned for over 6 decades primarily for the following reasons:
- Vegetation has become established within the dry bone valley area, and there is still some debate as to whether this occurred naturally or was promoted through stabilization.
- The main channel of the system was previously located on the east bank (Kenton side) but migrated to the West Bank approximately 3 decades ago. This resulted in a significant sand flat immediately west of the Westbourne Road car park, which provided an ideal surface for sand to accumulate.
- The sediment dynamics of the Bushmans River has changed significantly over a similar time period. The establishment of numerous dams within the catchment, the construction of the bridge and the colonization of sandbanks by Eel grass have all contributed to the retention of sediment in the system. This has resulted in more sediment accumulating closer to the mouth. This sediment is deposited naturally during the ebb tide, and is then blown east under the dominant westerly winds. Over almost 5 decades it has accumulated into the very large dune we see there today.
- Finally, the contruction of the Middle Beach Road and parking area has created a barrier to the free flow of sand through the valley and onto Middle Beach.
It is for the above reasons that sand has been unable to pass through the HBDS for 5 decades. A further contributing factor is that our calculations have determined that significantly more sand accumulates than did in the past, due to the changes to the system explained above. This is based on the development of a three-dimensional sediment plume model of the estuary.
All these factors mitigate against the re-establishment of a bypass dune system. So what now?
Firstly, we have to acknowledge that we are dealing with a very altered system in which the dune system is no longer functioning as it did in the past, and that it can no longer function as it did in the past due to the significant human changes that have taken place (As highlighted in the points above). A solution therefore requires an adaptive management approach that considers the constraints of the altered natural processes; recognizes the recreational value of this stretch of coastline; acknowledges the investment by individuals in their properties bought in good faith; and complies with the legal environmental requirements defined in the existing Environmental Authorization granted by the Competent Authority (DEDEAT).
The solution that has been presented recognizes all the above constraints and has been designed to reduce the risk of failure.
However, there might be opportunities to modify the current proposal to address some of the concerns raised by various parties, whilst still meeting the overall objectives of managing the sand movement in an ecologically sound manner that does not compromise the functioning of the Bushman’s estuary, limits unpredictable sand movement as far as possible and acknowledges the recreational and aesthetic value of the area. Various parties have agreed to explore this to see if other solutions might achieve the overall objectives.
We can confirm that is unlikely that the Bushmans Estuary/mouth will ever close and this would never be caused by the reprofiled sand dune and any accumulating sand.
Response from PRDW and CES, consultants to the Ndlambe Municipality on the Kenton Sand Dune