Sea Level Rise Benchmark for Gosford is 140mm less than it is for Wyong beaches

Pat Aiken from the Coastal Residents Inc and candidate for the STL party in the September council election has accused Central Coast Council of creating complete chaos in coastal management in less than a year.
“We have 50 per cent of the scheduled coastal erosion hotspots for the entire State, and we are also hugely impacted by projections of rising seas, with up to 20,000 properties potentially affected by sea level rise, but there is no adaptation plan, and we have a lame duck council, managed by a state government ignorant of the projected impact of climate change on the Central Coast,” Mr Aiken said.
“The latest debacle is a decision to implement a sea level rise (SLR) benchmark for the Northern Beaches of the Central Coast, (formerly Wyong Beaches), that is 75% higher than the SLR benchmark used for our Southern Beaches (formerly Gosford Beaches) and coastal flood plains,” he said.
Both the northern and the southern Coastal Zone Management Plans call up the same old ideas of planned retreat, time limited development consent and draconian hazard notations on Section 149 Planning Certificates, according to Mr Aiken.
“These flawed and dated concepts are very much in keeping with the Coastal Management Act of the State Liberal Government with it’s out of date principles, that’s still not proclaimed, six months after being passed by the NSW Parliament.
“The Sea Level Rise Benchmark for Gosford is 200mm by 2050, but the new Wyong Benchmark is 340mm of sea level rise by 2050: two completely different benchmarks in the one Local Government Area,” he said.
“Which benchmark will prevail under a newly elected council after September 2017?
“A recent decision by the Information and Privacy Commission against the Central Coast Council’s decision not to make a confidential report on Wamberal Beach fully accessible to the residents of the Central Coast, further demonstrates the lack of accountability and transparency of a self-serving council entirely focussed on the demands of its master, the NSW Liberal Government.
“To successfully amalgamate two large Local Government Areas into one regional Central Coast Council, we need transparency in all matters.
“Despite assertions by Central Coast Council that it is building a solid foundation for the new council, all we are seeing are future land mines being laid that will damage the social, environmental and economic fabric of the Central Coast.
“Just six months ago, Council was demanding the removal of emergency protection works from Wamberal Beach that were the same design as emergency works constructed with the its approval at Pearl Beach.
“In early April, asbestos cement roofing on Wamberal Beach, uncovered by the June storm in 2016, was brought to the attention of Council by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
“Despite assurances to the NSW EPA, Council is yet to remove this material.
“The NSW EPA, which operates within the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage under the less than watchful eye of Minister Gabrielle Upton, also ignores this failure of a NSW Council to act properly and in accordance with NSW environmental legislation that everyone else must comply with.
“The Central Coast Council, despite its own assertions, isn’t building a new and resilient Central Coast Council that is fit for the future.
“It is barely holding the fort.
“The State Government will be handing over a basket case to Central Coast residents before it cuts and runs from a debacle of it its own making, with assistance from an unelected council,” Mr Aiken said.

Source:
Media release, May 30
Pat Aiken, STL