Disturbing photos show why today’s council meeting was called

Two State MPs have waded into the discussion around the extraordinary meeting of Central Coast Council held today, May 6, to discuss how to help Wamberal and The Entrance North beachfront owners.

Two councillors have put a Motion forward, another has already said she wants to amend it; one State MP has backed the move and another has revealed he tried to get things moving in early April – and again in May but was told the “emergency was over”.

Because of the late notice, the Mayor Lawrie McKinna has asked to attend by audio visual link. 

Councillor Trent McWaide, in the meantime, has sent photos to Coast Community News to show why the meeting is needed.

Councillors Kyla Daniels and McWaide asked for the meeting.

The pair want to give landowners free rein for a month to do whatever is needed to protect their properties from coastal erosion without needing Council consent.

They also want the NSW Government to declare a state of emergency at Wamberal and The Entrance North.

The Motion says this is “due to the ongoing significant risk to life and property in these areas noting houses are at high risk of falling into the sea”.

They want Council to allow contractors unrestricted access across the beaches to access private property for the emergency works.

Councillor Rachel Stanton has already said she wants to amend the Motion.

“I will be moving an amendment that seeks to include properties surrounding Tuggerah Lake, Blue Bay and Toowoon Bay, to ensure property owners in these suburbs can also protect their homes from coastal erosion and flooding using precautionary measures, without the risk of penalty for the same one month period,” Stanton said.

Councillor Stanton said coastal erosion and flooding were complex issues that required a targeted and multifaceted approach.

“All levels of government need to work together on these issues to get the best outcome for our community.”

Shadow Minister for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said he welcomed the decision to request an extraordinary meeting to call on the Government to declare a state of emergency at Wamberal and The Entrance North.

“It is unbelievable that assistance from the Minns Labor Government has not been forthcoming, with none of the local Labor members interested or willing to get involved to support Central Coast Council in managing this issue,” Crouch said.

“Local beaches have been closed, with some littered with debris and landslips at numerous beach locations, and yet, no Labor members have picked up the phone to their own government and demand the support we need.”

Crouch said the situation was yet again another example of the Central Coast being forgotten and ignored by the Minns Labor Government.

But Member for The Entrance David Mehan said he had twice sought approval for residents at The Entrance North to undertake their own coastal protection works on their land, provided such works were designed and certified by a coastal engineer.  

He said the first request was to Council on April 9 and this was declined on April 23.

Mehan said such works were allowed under s124 of the Local Government Act and had been used by Northern Beaches Council.

The second request was to the Local Emergency Management Committee on May 2 that such works should be allowed.

Mehan said this was declined verbally on May 3 with the reason being that the “emergency had passed”.

“While Council has the power to authorise works under s124, their preferred pathway is via the Coastal Management Act (CM Act),” Mehan said.

“For The Entrance North, enacting the CM Act pathway is expensive and timely due to the absence of a Coastal Management Plan. 

“Instead, residents need to go through the Regional Planning Panel process.

‘Residents have long been asking for permission to undertake coastal protection works on their properties at their own expense.

‘Council should allow the authorisation of s124. I believe it’s high time that this was granted,” Mehan said.

Both the Mayor Lawrie McKinna and Councillor Belinda Neal have requested permission to attend the meeting via audio visual link.

Both say they are unable to attend due to their current locations.

The meeting was scheduled to start at 4pm.

The Economic Development Committee is due to start at 5pm and the Environment and Planning Committee at 7pm the same day.

Merilyn Vale