Two tidal pool experts met with the Port Macquarie Tidal Pool Committee over the weekend (March 23-24) to share their thoughts on how the project could become a reality.
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The visit is part of the preliminary work the committee is doing for a feasibility study into a tidal pool for the area.
The NSW Government awarded the committee $50 000 in December 2018 to conduct the study.
Architect and tidal pool design and maintenance expert Nicole Larkin said a tidal pool has not been built in NSW since the 1960s.
"Port Macquarie has an opportunity to reimagine what an ocean pool can be, it is not just a concrete box in the sand, it could be a lot more than that."
Ms Larkin said given Port Macquarie's elderly population some of the design elements of other pools could be mirrored.
"They have great ramps rather than steps, so you can still draw on what is there."
Principal Coastal Engineer with the University of NSW Water Research Laboratory James Carley said he was impressed by the potential of Port Macquarie as a tidal pool location.
Mr Carley said the committee needs to "develop criteria, multi criteria" for a tidal pool.
He said there was a "large number of potentially suitable sights but there would be many hoops that would need to be jumped through" to get it off the ground.
Mr Carley is working on a feasibility study for a tidal pool in Ballina.
"Some of the lessons from Ballina can be transferred to Port Macquarie - waves heights, tides are pretty similar and the storm surges are broadly similar but the geography and geology is quite different, so Port Macquarie needs an in-depth customary assessment."
"We also need to develop techniques for developing how high a pool should be to optimise the level of safety and natural flushing."
Chair of the Tidal Pool Committee Kathryn Butler said the feasibility study will be presented to the State Government within the next year, but the committee was prepared to ask for an extension if they needed longer.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, so we are doing our homework, our ground work, getting the best possible people to do the study.
- Kathryn Butler
"We have a lot of constraints to work with, a lot of environmental zoning on the beaches...for example the Local Environmental Plan from 2011 has zoned out the southern end of Flynns Beach which is now environmental heritage," Ms Butler said.
