The Wamberal Save Our Sand (SOS) group says the huge storm which hit the area on Friday, April 5, showed that a wide, sandy Wamberal Beach is the best form of coastal protection.
“SOS inspected the beach on Saturday morning and observed that Friday’s storm surges never reached the properties at the back of the beach because there was an adequate sand buffer,” spokesperson Corinne Lamont said.
“Locals know sand has accumulated at Wamberal Beach and other NSW beaches over the past year, making them wider than they have been in a long time, moving the shoreline seaward.
“If Central Coast Council Administrator Rik Hart had inspected the sandy beach on the weekend, he would have been convinced to back sand nourishment, not a vertical seawall.”
Lamont said SOS had repeatedly asked Hart to pass a resolution to stop the proposed Wamberal Beach seawall and to instead back sand nourishment for coastal protection, to no avail.
The group says the controversial complex matter needs to be dealt with by an elected Council later this year.
“SOS is very concerned that Council is misleading the community about (its) efforts to investigate sand nourishment as a coastal protection option for Wamberal Beach,” Lamont said.
“There is no evidence that Council has investigated sand nourishment alone; they have always led with the seawall.
“Council’s new Wamberal Beach FAQ page suggests that sand nourishment has been dismissed and not investigated as an option for Wamberal Beach because Council has incorrectly assumed mass sand nourishment at Wamberal Beach would be private property protection, therefore making offshore sand sources unavailable.
“NSW legislation and policies do allow for offshore sand recovery from NSW coastal waters for beach nourishment if it can be demonstrated that it is for a broader public benefit.
“The broad public benefit that mass sand nourishment would provide Wamberal Beach would incidentally also provide private property protection.
“This is what we saw last weekend – the nice wide sandy beach ensured the waves didn’t reach the houses at the back of the beach.”
Lamont said SOS representatives were arranging a date to meet with Minister for Climate Change Penny Sharpe’s senior advisor to discuss sand nourishment as a solution for Wamberal Beach.
“Rik Hart has confirmed that he will join the meeting should his diary permit,” she said.
Council has rejected an initial development application lodged by the Wamberal Protection Association (WPA) to build a vertical seawall in the middle section of the beach, between Surfer’s Lane and The Ruins, as being inadequate in several areas.
SOS says Council should reject the application altogether and investigate mass sand nourishment.
The level of ignorance being shown by SOS and their members is alarming.. they have literally no knowledge of the actual proposal, the design, nor the funding. Their ongoing objections are simply not based on fact and their assertions that Council “gifted” 100k to the WPA is an outright lie – Council is a land owner of properties affected by the DA, they have a duty of care for Wamberal Beach, and have been involved in the study of the coastal erosion issue for years. Regardless of all of SOS’s cries of “our sands” they still can’t seem to get their head around the fact that the DA is for the wall is within private land for over 95% of it’s length, only protruding outside private property where directed by Council planning documents. Does SOS get this involved with other DA’s in private land..?? Have they even bothered to review a design plan to see what they are arguing against? Are they experts in any field related to this proposal? Nope, ignorance prevails..
Great article . Sand nourishment is the way to go . No Seawall at Wamberal!
Nobody has any knowledge of the actual proposal, the design, nor the funding because this has been done without the inclusion of the general community who are the ones that will be mostly affected by this proposal. The public needs to ask why has so much about this DA and Councils dealings with the WPA been kept secret? It is a highly controversial project that will cost the ratepayers millions of dollars.
The seawall maybe built on private land but that construction work will be done via the public beach and will go on for years, how many years? how many trucks? how much traffic? there is a lot of information the council is not being transparent about, like why is Lett Park behind the surf club and the bush covered land behind the public toilets on the DA?
When the seawall is complete it will cause sand scouring to the beach during storm events as happened at Collaroy and make the beach impassable.
Luckily, the beach is a public amenity that is protected under The Coastal Management Act 2016, this is why people are against the seawall. “They have a duty of care to Wamberal beach” as it is a public amenity.