Watching for progress on Wooli’s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) can
be frustrating. Just to refresh your memory, here are the main steps so far:
- 1997, the current CZMP was approved;
- 2010-11, a new draft CZMP (based on planned retreat) was proposed and rejected;
- June 2015, a replacement CZMP (based on beach nourishment) was approved by Council and sent to the Minister of Planning for certification.
That’s when the ‘one step back’ happened. The CZMP proposed to get half the sand needed to nourish the village dunes from the national park behind Wilsons Headland. NSW National Parks department rejected that idea meaning the CZMP would not be approved.
Now for the two steps forward.
Firstly, Council are to be congratulated for promptly approving an adjustment to the plan which retains beach nourishment to protect the dunes but uses a different approach to get the needed sand. The northern end of Wooli beach will continue to provide about half the sand originally planned for, but will do so every 2.5 years rather than every 5 years (depending on availability and need).
Secondly, Council added to the revised plan a proposal from CCPA to investigate beach scraping as a way to supplement the sand supply from north Wooli. Thanks to members Brian Saye (surveyor) and Bob Stack (engineer) for their Submissions which formed the basis for our proposal.
Finally, a couple of cautions about the Plan’s likely success
. Agreement will be needed from the Departments of Land and Marine Parks to take sand from north Wooli before this revised CZMP is likely to be approved by the Minister. Also state government approval of Council’s funding application is needed in order to get the plan started. Guarded optimism would be a fair summary.
Have your say!