Member for Wyong David Harris has vowed to urge Central Coast Council to work will all residents on a solution to ongoing erosion issues at Wamberal Beach, following the passage of an amended Motion in State Parliament recently.
“As Minister for the Central Coast, I acknowledge the diversity of views regarding the proposed sea wall at Wamberal,” Harris said.
“I also acknowledge the advocacy of community groups on the issue, including the Wamberal Save our Sands group, led by local residents Mark and Corinne Lamont, whom I met with recently.
“After 12 years of Liberal governments, the future of Wamberal beach was left in limbo and the state budget in a shambles.
“The Government (has) successfully amended a Motion to urge Central Coast Council to work constructively with all residents, particularly around Terrigal Lagoon, to address community concerns.
“We will continue to have open dialogue with Central Coast Council and the community to ensure their concerns are addressed through any planning process.”
The original Motion was put by Greens MP Abigail Boyd, who had presented a petition on the issue to the Parliament the previous day.
“That petition was backed by the calls of thousands of Central Coast residents whose homes and community are under threat,” she said.
“Wamberal has been vulnerable to coastal erosion for years as one of 15 coastal erosion hotspots in NSW and one of hundreds across Australia.
“The Central Coast Council, which is currently under administration and has been prevented from democratically holding local elections for several years, is tasked with managing accelerated coastal erosion caused by climate impacts and rising sea levels.
“A high seawall was proposed by a few select property owners and supported by Council after the beach and nearby homes experienced significant dune erosion in 2020, but a seawall is so clearly not the only option, and it is far from the right option.
“No wall will ever stop the ocean; it will not stop the ocean’s currents from reaching the shore.
“A seawall is intended to reflect incident wave energy back into the sea.
“How can anyone possibly think that spending millions of dollars to shift erosion to a different part of the beach is a sensible option?”
The Parliament rejected elements of the Motion urging direct Government intervention in the decision-making process.
Boyd’s original Motion called for the Government to act to prevent the Council from proceeding with any seawall development applications (DAs) until an Environmental Impact Statement and administrative review had been conducted and publicly reported, and a newly elected Council was put in place in September 2024.
It also called for the Government to immediately stop the transfer of public land along Wamberal Beach to Council and support an appeal to the Land and Environment Court to overturn existing Wamberal Beach seawall DAs.
Instead the Parliament backed a watered-down Motion to urge Central Coast Council to work constructively with all residents, particularly around Terrigal Lagoon, to address community concerns, after Minister for Climate Change and the Environment Penny Sharpe said the Government could not back the Motion in its original form due to “planning process inaccuracies”.
In reply, Boyd said it was “complete madness” to say that the Government has no legal authority to intervene.
“The Government could pass a law this week or next week that actually prohibits the building of seawalls,” she said.
Although the Greens did not back the amended Motion, it passed.
Source:
Minister for the Central Coast David Harris
Hansard transcript
Think about it. The offshore barrier reef to our north is a barrier against sand erosion by heavy seas. So do it. And if so, it has nothing to do with the residence.