The Wamberal Beach Save Our Sand (SOS) group held an emergency rally on Tuesday, July 18, as equipment rolled in to begin geotechnical investigations in preparation for an application for a seawall along the beach.
Beachfront landowners are expected to lodge a Development Application (DA) with Central Coast Council for the seawall in coming months, with consultant engineers engaged to explore the underlying geomorphology of the area.
But SOS, which has been campaigning for two years and has attracted more than 2,000 signatures on a petition opposing a seawall, says the move is premature, with other options to solve Wamberal’s ongoing erosion issues not yet fully explored.
In September last year, more than 1,000 people attended a protest on the beach.
Tuesday’s rally, organised at short notice, saw around 30 people gather to reinforce opposition to the proposal.
Participants, many in SOS T-shirts, brandished a fresh batch of posters, chanted and delivered speeches calling on Council and the State Government to halt seawall DA preparations.
Spokesperson Corinne Lamont said the drilling had been “quietly organised” and could potentially continue for a week or two.
“We need to tell Council it’s not on,” she said.
Members are concerned over Council’s continued preference for a seawall option, reinforced last October when it adopted design requirements for seawall applications.
“It is irresponsible for Council to be preparing a seawall DA with others when they have not studied the ‘end effects’ of a seawall – that is, increased flooding of hundreds of lagoon homes and the lagoon environment when sea storm surges occur,” Lamont said.
“Hundreds of lagoon residents are rightly worried that Council is pressing on with a seawall DA co-application on an ‘apply now, ask questions later’ basis.
“(This is) leaving locals wondering what the end effect impact on the lagoons will be, let alone the seawall’s impact on the beach itself.
“Council needs to get an end effects lagoon study done before it even thinks about a seawall DA.
“Council has an obligation to the entire community, not just beachfront property owners, (and) must stop leaving the wider community in the dark.
“Council needs to start asking the community what is best for the community (through) proper consultation, not closed meetings.”
A Council spokesperson confirmed that consultant engineers engaged by the lead proponent in relation to a DA being prepared for a terminal protection structure at Wamberal Beach began geotechnical investigations this week.
“This basically involves a probe being pushed into the ground at various points along the beach to better understand the underlying geomorphology,” the spokesperson said.
“It should be noted, Council has not engaged the geotechnical consultants for this work.
“No DA has yet been lodged that is associated with this project … and no approvals have yet been granted for this project to proceed.”
The spokesperson said the updated Engineering Design Requirements (EDR) adopted in October were for use by landowners in preparing development applications, and for consideration in the assessment of development applications.
“The EDR has been developed to articulate specific design requirements for the seawall, including consideration of lagoon end termination points, and as part of that, potential interactions with lagoon and entrance processes,” the spokesperson said.
“Studies like this will help to ensure that if and when a DA is lodged, all appropriate considerations have been given in accordance with the EDR for a potential structure, and that any risks or concerns presented can be best mitigated.”
Further information on the background of the project, the planning and assessment process, and other relevant information is available on Council’s website at: https://www.centralcoast.nsw.gov.au/environment/coastlines/coastal-zone-management/coastal-erosion
Terry Collins