Plans for a seawall at Wamberal Beach appear to be dead in the water after Premier Chris Minns committed to sand nourishment as the preferred option at a Community Cabinet on the Central Coast on Tuesday, April 1.
But with heavy seas hitting the beach later that day, homeowners reported on Wednesday that there had been substantial erosion overnight with the potential for a massive landslide near houses along the middle of the beach.
“If sand is the solution, we need it now,” a homeowner said.
Minns told a packed auditorium he was not confident the erection of a seawall would not have devastating impacts on the rest of the beach.
”That is informed in part by the Ministry for the Environment as well as examples seen in other beaches up and down the east coast of NSW,” Minns said.
He said the first responsibility was to do no harm in these circumstances and if the Government gave consent for a wall on government land and it was built and subsequently there was devastating further erosion up and down Wamberal, the community would be furious.
“We have to be very careful about this,” he said.
The Premier went on to say the Government would not shift from its position and would not sign up as a landowner to give permission for a seawall on its land.
He said he knew it was not the answer Wamberal Protection Association (WPA) members would want to hear but they deserved a direct answer.
Earlier, representatives from WPA and the Wamberal Save Our Sand (SOS) had been allowed to ask one question each at the beginning of the Premier’s Community Question and Answer session at Breakers Country Club, which gave the community an opportunity to directly engage with NSW Government cabinet ministers about local matters of importance.
Chris Rogers from WPA asked the following question: “If the government is not going to approve the DA (Development Application for a seawall) that has been submitted under strict guidelines and legislation directly from State Government, backed by State Government coastal engineers and millions of dollars of reports, on private land at landowners’ cost, requiring minimal sand nourishment, is the government going to commit to the community the hundreds of millions of dollars required to place enough sand along the beach to provide permanent protection and maintain the beach – and I would suggest that other beaches will come along that also need that – and commit to a fixed and firm time line and an explanation of how the sand will be provided to the Wamberal community, executable in the next 12 months.”
“It’s not about saving the sand, it’s about saving the suburb,’’ he said.
Mark Lamont from SOS asked what the Government could do to commit to sand nourishment.
The Premier said he could not give a time line at the forum but he believed the pilot projects up and running in Newcastle for sand nourishment could apply at scale at Wamberal.
He said the government would return to the local community and be clear about the commitment.
After the meeting, Chris Rogers spoke to Coast Community News.
“The honorable Chris Minns has just committed hundreds of millions of dollars to solve the 50 year protection problem at Wamberal beach which will be a precedent for hundreds of other beaches in NSW,” he said.
“WPA are extremely happy that the highest person in office clearly stated the government will take ownership and fund a protection solution for Wamberal Beach.
“The only question left to answer is when will this take place.”
Rogers said the government could no longer ignore the issue and do nothing.
“The implementation of their sand protection solution needs to happen immediately,” he said.
“It’s also important to note the government’s own lots along Wamberal Beach (69-71 Oceanview Dr) have less than 15 meters before storm erosion breaks through to inundatea Oceanview Dr.”
He said WPA had no intention of dropping its DA efforts “until dredges are located along Wamberal and sand is in place for protection”.
On Wednesday, Rogers updated Coast Community News.
“If sand is the solution, we need it now,” he said.
“There’s been substantial erosion overnight.
“There is concrete that’s fallen on to the beach.
“Metres of land slippage is occurring at 43 Ocean View Dr.
“High tide is not until 12.30pm today and again at midnight.
“It is likely the beach will need to be closed again after this.
“It’s quite scary out the front at the moment.”
Central Coast Councillor Belinda Neal said the Premier had put an end to the proposal for a seawall.
“This should put an end to the proposal to construct the Wamberal seawall at great expense and risk to the beach,” Neal said.
“Council would be ignoring reality if they continued to spend time and money on this project.”
Council’s website explains that Wamberal Beach has some of the worst impacts of coastal erosion of any beach in NSW.
“Due to a combination of limited natural sand supply, urban development and climate change, Wamberal Beach has a long history of damage,” the website says.
“In 1974 major storms threatened beachfront properties, with the first homes lost during the 1978 event.
“Over the years, landowners and government agencies have attempted to maintain the beach and protect property, to little effect, as each individual effort placed additional pressure on adjacent property.”
In October 2022, while under administration, Council adopted Wamberal Beach Terminal Protection Structure Engineering Design Requirements (EDR) which would be used in the assessment of any submitted development application for a continuous seawall structure at the beach.
The WPA has submitted three DAs in partnership with Council for a seawall and these are currently under assessment.
The Hunter Regional Planning Panel, which is the consent authority for the DAs, met on site recently and published a list of issues it wanted addressed, including: land owners’ consent; an understanding of how the project was to be financed; and what legal mechanisms were being proposed to ensure all three DAs were built as one entitity.
Wamberal SOS said it would now reach out to Council and the WPA to help them align with the community, the experts and Premier Minns and his government.
Merilyn Vale
Chris needs to get his facts right.
The WPA DA application does not meet all the above that he has stated.
Just because he & the WPA have paid millions of dollars for consultants to right that it does meet all the requirements, doesn’t mean that it does.
The Hunter Central Coast Regional Planning Panel have many concerns about the proposal.
Several coastal experts agree that it does not comply and is not the solution.
There are several items of compliance that were not submitted with the DA.
The proposal is not all on private land, several blocks on the north section cross onto the public beach, and there are 5 NSW government owned blocks and 4 public access ways included.
It will have a cost to the public and not just a financial cost.
Minimal sand nourishment is a lie as we all know from Collaroy beach that the reflective nature of vertical seawalls increases sand erosion to a point that the beach is stripped of sand.
It will not take hundreds of millions of dollars for Mass Sand Nourishment which yes is a solution for several NSW beaches.
Beach public amenity is priceless.
How dare he insist that sand nourishment be “executable in the next 12 months” his proposal is years away from starting if approved and will take several years to complete.
Chris, the WPA and CCC have ignored the wider community voice on this issue.
They have also ignored several professional coastal experts opinions.
They have ignored what has happened at Collaroy beach where the seawall continually needs sand replacement and that the community absolutely loath the seawall.
You all must know by now that Mr Minns is a fully qualified environmental engineer and that being a premier is just a part-time position, so just dig them in deep.He knows it all, the homes are worth millions for their positions require protection, and I am sure Chris, with his heavenly adviser, knows it all. We love sandstone and large block look great in your backyards in your property, can ever make a great BQ, without the use of salt water wetting your food.
I’ve no sympathy for the affected residents of the Wamberal beach strip.The reality is that they were well aware at time of property purchase that the possibility of rising sea’s was very real.Now that the magnitude of how unpredictable and cruel Mother Nature can be is being realised,these self entitled individuals believe that the N.S.W Government bail them out.All residents involved need to accept that if they can’t afford the costing of protecting their castles,then don’t ultimately expect the hardworking N.S.W taxpayer to foot the bill.Shame on your intentions.
If constant replenishment of the sand is likely to cost “hundreds of millions of dollars”, the government should just compulsorily acquire the affected properties, demolish them and rebuild the dunes.
Why would you build or buy on top of a sand hill ,,Dumb ,dumb, dumdidy dumb.