Sleaford Bay

Sleaford Bay
Sleaford Bay, ca 1935
Sleaford Bay is located in South Australia
Sleaford Bay
Sleaford Bay
Location in South Australia
LocationEyre Peninsula, South Australia
Coordinates34°53′54″S 135°46′02″E / 34.898337°S 135.76709°E / -34.898337; 135.76709[2]
TypeBay
EtymologySleaford, Lincolnshire[3]
Basin countriesAustralia
DesignationMarine park[2]
Max. lengthabout 16 kilometres (9.9 mi)[4]
Max. widthabout 9 kilometres (5.6 mi)[4]
Max. depthabout 53 metres (174 ft)[4]
Islandsone[5]
SettlementsSleaford[2]
Lincoln National Park[2]

Sleaford Bay is a bay located in the Australian state of South Australia on the southern coast of Eyre Peninsula. It was named by the British navigator, Matthew Flinders in 1802.

Extent & description[edit]

Sleaford Bay is located on the south coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia about 21 kilometres (13 mi) south-west of the municipal seat of Port Lincoln.[2]

It lies between the headland of Cape Wiles at its western extremity and headland of Cape Tournefort at its eastern extremity. A subsidiary bay named Fishery Bay is located on its west side about 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) north of Cape Wiles.[5]

History[edit]

The bay was named after the town of Sleaford in Lincolnshire, England by the British navigator, Matthew Flinders in 1802.[3]

The Barngarla name for Sleaford Bay is Dhanana.[1]: 78 

The Baudin expedition who visited after Flinders gave it two names – Baudin used the name Anse des Nerlans while Peron and Freycinet revised it to Baie Lavoisier after Baudin’s death.[2]

A whaling station located on the coastline within Fishery Bay was in operation from 1839 to 1841.[6]

Settlements and infrastructure[edit]

The coastline of Sleaford Bay is occupied by the locality of Sleaford in the west and by the locality of Lincoln National Park in the east.[2]

As of 2005, port infrastructure within the bay consisted of a boat ramp located in Fishery Bay.[7]

Proposed seawater desalination plant[edit]

In 2018, a proposal to construct a 3 gigalitre per year seawater desalination plant at Sleaford Bay[where?] was announced. Land was purchased in July and the project was expected to cost $80 million to complete.[8][9] The location is one of several prospects previously earmarked by SA Water in 2009.[10] In 2020, the site in the north of the bay near Sleaford Mere Conservation Park was ruled too costly. After a second site closer to Port Lincoln was opposed by commercial fisheries in 2021, a committee was set up which chose a site between Fishery Bay and Sleaford Bay in 2022, with the capacity increased to 5.3-gigalitres. [11]

Protected area status[edit]

The Thorny Passage Marine Park occupies the full extent of the bay while the Lincoln National Park extents to Mean Low Water Mark on its eastern side.[12][13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Zuckermann, Ghil'ad and the Barngarla (2019), Barngarlidhi Manoo (Speaking Barngarla Together) Archived 26 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Barngarla Language Advisory Committee. (Barngarlidhi Manoo – Part II Archived 26 May 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Search result for "Sleaford Bay, BAY" with the following datasets selected – "NPW and Conservation Reserve Boundaries", "State Marine Park Network", "Suburbs and Localities" and "Gazetteer'". Location SA Map Viewer. Government of South Australia. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  3. ^ a b Manning, Geoffrey. "Place Names of South Australia - Sleaford Bay". State Library of South Australia. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b c South Australia. Department of Marine and Harbors (DMH) (1985), The Waters of South Australia a series of charts, sailing notes and coastal photographs, Dept. of Marine and Harbors, South Australia, p. chart 34, ISBN 978-0-7243-7603-2
  5. ^ a b Sailing Directions (Enroute), Pub. 175: North, West, and South Coasts of Australia (PDF). Sailing Directions. United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2017. p. 183.
  6. ^ Staniforth, Mark (1999), "South Australian Projects, Sleaford Bay", Archaeology of Whaling in Southern Australia and New Zealand Project, Flinders University, archived from the original on 28 February 2019, retrieved 9 September 2018
  7. ^ Boating Industry Association of South Australia (BIA); South Australia. Department for Environment and Heritage (2005), South Australia's waters an atlas & guide, Boating Industry Association of South Australia, p. 215, ISBN 978-1-86254-680-6
  8. ^ "SA plans for $80 million desal plant". SBS News. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  9. ^ Cootes, Isobel (13 November 2018). "Desal plant talks". Port Lincoln Times. Archived from the original on 28 November 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  10. ^ "Three sites earmarked for Eyre Peninsula desal". ABC News. 2 December 2009. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  11. ^ "Third time's a charm as locals choose new Sleaford Bay site for Eyre Peninsula desalination plant". ABC News. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Thorny Passage Marine Park Management Plan 2012" (PDF). Department of Environment Water and Natural Resources. 2012. pp. 24/31. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  13. ^ "Lincoln National Park Management Plan". Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH). 2004. p. 4. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.