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Protect Wooli From Coastal Erosion

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IT ‘S BUYING TIME AGAIN!

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Since the release by Clarence Valley Council of their draft Coastal Zone Management Plan in 2010, Wooli ‘s property scene has been subdued, to say the least. Although global factors played their part, community reaction to the Plan and the subsequent formation of CCPA have been influential in opening up communication channels with CVC and state government on the issue of coastal protection. The more open discussions flowing from this have been a welcome and encouraging outcome. Even more welcome is the redrafting of the Plan now in progress, eliminating planned retreat, except in emergency situations, and placing emphasis on gathering data to support potential short, medium and long-term solutions for protecting Wooli ‘s coastal environment.

One of our targets in recent months has been to persuade Council to ensure that up-to-date information on the status of the CZMP is prominent on their website. As you can see from this recent update great progress has been made in placing current information on the Plan in pole position, and relegating the 2010 draft to history, where it belongs.

CCPA has focussed on this issue because, since 2010, several potential Wooli buyers have been referred to a CVC website showing a draft CZMP that is no longer relevant. Understandably, they withdrew from the market. Wooli ‘s property scene has been held back  because buyers were not fully informed of the fresh thinking now being applied to coastal protection planning.

With the true picture of the current outlook on coastal planning available on the CVC site and significantly, its referral to CCPA ‘s comprehensive website coverage – the value of this development cannot be underestimated. Potential buyers will have access to up-to-date planning positions, rather than relying on a three-year-old draft plan in which “planned retreat” was the preferred option.

CCPA welcomes this step and hopefully the Wooli property scene can begin a steady recovery.

Macquarie St., Prince St. and Main St. move ahead.

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    Speaking from his office in Main St. Wooli,  Bruce Bird (President of the Protect Wooli campaign) congratulated Clarence Valley Council on its recent unanimous decision to undertake a major revision of Wooli ‘s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP).

     â€œIt didn ‘t happen overnight but it did happen” said Bruce.“We ‘ve still got a lot of hurdles to clear but this was a big one to get over.

The new plan will move away from abandoning the village. Instead it will focus on understanding the forces that shape the beach and using modern adaptive management science to develop a beach protection strategy for the long term”.

For the full story read our previous News item

 

Following hard on the heels of the Prince St. announcement,  theWooli community and CVC received strong support for their new approach via a media release from the O ‘Farrell government in Macquarie St. Sydney.

The release by Special Minister of State, Chris Hartcher  announced that

–   The heavy handed application of (the previous government) Labour ‘s sea level rise planning benchmarks for 2050 and 2100 would go…given that the scientific knowledge in the field was continually evolving

–   Councils will have the freedom to consider local conditions when determining future hazards

–   (And there will be) more freedom given to landowners to protect their properties from erosion.

 

 

Main St. and Prince St. aren ‘t resting on their laurels however.

The Wooli community has already implemented the surveys and automated photography systems to capture on-shore data about the beach and dunes. The community is now working with CVC on a jointly funded project to map the off-shore data about Wooli bay including its waves, currents, contours and sediments.

Time is of the essence as CVC works towards having a new CZMP available by December. What a Christmas present that would be for the Wooli community.

 

 

New Plan for Wooli unanimously supported by Council

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It didn’t happen overnight but it did happen!

Great news was received recently from Clarence Valley Council (CVC) – they have unanimously endorsed undertaking a major revision of the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for Wooli. The original 2010 plan favoured the Planned Retreat option whereas the new plan will recommend solutions based on beach research and modern adaptive management techniques.

 

CVC’s decision was taken as a result of extensive community consultation, particularly with CCPA-Wooli. Council also noted that “existing partnership arrangements with the Wooli CCPA, such as the beach camera monitoring project, suggests that a collaborative approach is possible and very productive”.

 

Here are  Highlights from Council decision  or, if you prefer, you can read the full  CVC Minute approving new CZMP process.

 

    As you you can see from these Minutes we’ve made big strides in working with Council compared to a couple of years ago.

The next big step will be taken this week!

A three-way meeting will be held at Wooli where CCPA, CVC and NSW Dept. of Environment & Heritage representatives will focus on  how we work together to develop a new Plan (by Christmas 2012) which will be supported by the community, local government and state government.

 

You can do two things that will help get us to that point.

First, keep you fingers crossed that this meeting goes well.

Second, and much more importantly you can show your ongoing support by renewing your CCPA Membership asap if you haven’t already done so.

 

 

 

 

Wooli and Council on the same page

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WOOLI MEETING WELCOMES COUNCIL INVOLVEMENT  

 

A meeting of Wooli community group CCPA (Coastal Communities Protection Alliance) was held on Saturday 9 June. The group formed in 2010 in response to the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan tabled by Clarence Valley Council, proposing “planned retreat” from Wooli village in the face of predicted coastal erosion threats.

 

The group ‘s vice president Peter Dunn welcomed CVC ‘s Strategic and Economic Planning Manager Dave Morrison and Environmental Planning Coordinator Scott Lenton, to what he called “a landmark occasion for Wooli”.

 

”When the draft Plan was exhibited in 2010, emotions ran high with over 100 submissions to council making Wooli ‘s opposition to the “planned retreat” proposal loud and clear” said Mr Dunn.” CCPA has been working with council staff for over a year on a revised strategy, and today we are sharing a community meeting with input from both community and council staff.”

 

 

“Today ‘s meeting is about a process for producing a new plan that replaces the “planned retreat” concept with one of adaptive management. This will enable solutions for Wooli ‘s future to be based on consultation, research and verifiable planning.”

 

Addressing the meeting, Mr Morrison said that the number of submissions showed CVC how concerning the draft plan was to the Wooli community. “They showed the social impact on the village was a major problem. It became very apparent that there was support for considering a wider range of options”.

Mr. Morrison agreed that subsequent discussions between council and CCPA representatives have been useful in putting both parties on the same page.

He went on to say that “in reviewing the plan greater emphasis is likely to be put on structured and on-going data collection to inform a range of potential alternatives, and the creation of an evolving, rather than a static, management plan. Providing more clarity to development controls and a move away from “planned retreat” options such as land swap will all be on the table.

He stressed, however, that a revised plan needed to be reviewed and approved by Council then the State Government, with continued community involvement, hopefully in the last quarter of 2012

Mr Dunn said that a research program into Wooli beach processes was already going ahead, with council cooperation.

“Time-lapse photography, beach surveys and sand-trapping are under way and there are plans for underwater data collection off Wooli beach. So far, funding has come from the community, but council has been approached for assistance and has applied to the NSW government for extra funds. A thorough and current understanding of how Wooli ‘s beach system works and an intelligent and adaptive plan are crucial to finding viable options to protect Wooli.”