Renovation doesn’t rely on seawall at Wamberal

A landowner at Wamberal Beach has put in a development application (DA) to extend and renovate a home at 3 Pacific St, Wamberal.

The DA seeks Central Coast Council’s approval to demolish a carport; put a new roof on the existing house and make internal alterations while adding a two-storey addition behind it with a cantilever walkway to the existing home.

New undercover parking and landscaping are part of the plan.

“The new structure will be located on deep foundations to meet Council and engineering requirements for development in the coastal zone,” the Statement of Environmental Effects says.

The Coastal Engineering Report which accompanies the application details the coastal hazard lines for Wamberal Beach for the immediate, 2050 and 2100 planning periods.

These identify coastal hazard zones of: 1. Wave impact during a severe coastal storm; 2. Slope adjustment (portion of the seaward face of the beach that would slump following removal of sand by erosion as a result of wave impact); and 3. Reduced foundation capacity  – which takes account of reduced bearing capacity of sand adjacent to storm erosion.

“The proposed development has been designed and sited to avoid any potential adverse impacts on coastal processes and environment and coastal land uses,” the report says.

“A 60-year planning period or design life (thus extending to 2085 for the subject DA) can be considered conservative for an infill residential structure with reference to Australian Standards for structural components, tax legislation and community expectations. 

“It is also conservative given the relative frequency (typically less than 50 years) that beachfront housing is redeveloped.”

The engineering report notes that while a DA for coastal protection works (a seawall over multiple properties) has been prepared for the site and surrounding beachfront properties (DA/1389/2024), “the assessment of the proposed works in no way rely on the proposed seawall”.

The seawall proposal, one of three for a whole of embayment solution, is still to be determined by the Regional Planning Panel.

A seawall application for three beachfront properties at 85, 87 and 89 Ocean View Dr, Wamberal was recently rejected by the Panel.

Council adopted a Motion at its September meeting to find alternative designs for medium to long-term remediation works at Wamberal.

“This design should be in accordance with Council’s Engineering Design Requirement and should offer protection from moderate-severe storm events,” the decision said.

Council is in the Land and Environment Court with a hearing to be held in October after issuing a stop work order on 9 Pacific St, where rock bags were being placed on the beach side of the property.