Council to lobby State Govt for sand nourishment

Sand nourishment has not become the priority of Central Coast Council but it will lobby for it.

And the message from councillors and CEO David Farmer, and apparently in a letter from Premier Chris Minns to Council, off shore sand nourishment as a way of protecting coastal beaches is not going to happen quickly.

The issue was the first item dealt with at the April 29 meeting of Council after four community members addressed councillors at the public forum immediately before the meeting.

Two speakers spoke for sand nourishment and two spoke against it.

Councillor Corinne Lamont brought the matter to Council, asking her fellow councillors to “adopt a formal position of prioritising offshore sand nourishment over beach armouring and seawalls in its coastal management
plans, as a sustainable and environmentally sensitive approach to addressing coastal erosion”.

She also asked for Council to lobby the NSW Government for access to offshore sand nourishment opportunities and for the upcoming Coastal Management Plan (CMP) to reflect this position, with a focus on integrating offshore sand
nourishment into future coastal erosion mitigation strategies.

Councillor Jared Wright moved an amendment which basically asked Council: to continue to lobby the NSW and Federal Government for access to offshore sand nourishment opportunities for Central Coast beaches; to advocate for funding; and for the CMP draft to be brought forward as soon as possible.

This was the motion that was adopted.

It included an amendment from Councillor Jane Smith that the CEO gauge the interest of other coastal councils in a taskforce for beach nourishment to explore the approvals and infrastructure that would be needed and the potential for sharing of costs with a further report back to Council in three months.

The report to the meeting said the Mayor had recently written to the Premier to seek further information on the NSW Government’s approach to offshore sand nourishment, following his recent statement at the Terrigal Community Cabinet on April 1 that the State Government would not participate in an application for a seawall on its properties along Wamberal beach.

CEO David Farmer said the approach to sand nourishment would need to include all three levels of government.

In response to a question from Smith, he said the dredge for offshore sand nourishment would be beyond a single council and would need a whole of coast approach.

The draft CMP is expected within six weeks, with Wright suggesting a brief summary to the planning and environment committee.

Earlier, the CEO had explained in the Council report tabled at the meeting that the CMP for the Open Coast will assess
a range of options to address coastal erosion threatening public beaches.

“Solutions are based on site specific locations, beach dynamics and land tenure,” the CEO said.

“All recommended solutions outlined in a CMP must be legally and economically viable.”

The vote for Wright’s amendment was 7-7 with Team Central Coast and the Liberals voting for it and Labor and the two independents voting against it.

Councillor Rachel Stanton was not in the room.

The Mayor used his casting vote to make it 8-7.