DECADES before man made the Gold Coast's famed Superbank surf break, Mother Nature made the ultimate surfer's paradise at Kirra Point.

In its heyday, Kirra was regarded by wave-worshippers as a surfing mecca, offering endlessly perfect barrel rides – or Kirra "kegs".

The world's top tube-riders honed their talents at The Point, which was also the venue for major international surf contests.

But Kirra is now a shadow of its one-time epic self, having been buried by almost 10 million tonnes of sand.

While sand pumped by the Tweed River sand bypass helped create the Superbank – the much-touted 1km wave stretching from Snapper Rocks to Coolangatta – it also smothered Kirra.

Kirra's death has been blamed for overcrowding at breaks such as Snapper Rocks and Burleigh and a rising tide of surf rage.

Now, coastal scientists from Griffith University are working with local surfers on a project to restore Kirra to its former glory.

More than 100 people attended a public forum at Coolangatta on Monday night to thrash out solutions.

Southern Gold Coast surfing legend, former world champion Wayne "Rabbit" Bartholomew, said Kirra had not broken properly for 10 years and it had to be revitalised to take pressure off the Superbank.

"Kirra is one of the Gold Coast's icons – any surfer worth his salt knows that," said Bartholomew, now president of the Association of Surfing professionals.

"It's made such a huge contribution to the Gold Coast economy through surf tourism that I'd put it in the same league as Sea World or Dreamworld.

"It's one of the Gold Coast's treasures and it should be enshrined."

Bartholomew has proposed rebuilding the rock groyne that was partially removed a decade ago and adjusting sand flows from the bypass.

Griffith University Centre for Coastal Management project manager Neil Lazarow said eight options to restore Kirra had come out of the forum.

"These range from doing nothing and letting nature take its course to more complicated engineering options," Mr Lazarow said.

"If we maintain the status quo, it could take 10 years for cyclones to strip away all of the excess sand. I don't think that's an acceptable solution to the surfing community."

Former surfing champion and long-time Kirra local Darryl Parkinson was sceptical, saying it would take "20 to 30 years" to remove the sand build-up.

His son, Mitch, 10, – who has never seen Kirra at its best – said he was worried any more tampering with the coastline could ruin his favourite break, Snapper Rocks.

Källa: Courier Mail