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Protect Wooli From Coastal Erosion

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Hazard a Guess

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NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes has told councils to put away their crystal balls and base coastal hazard information (particularly Section 149 Planning Certificates) on hard evidence.

Speaking at the recent NSW Coastal Conference, the Minister noted

  •  Planning certificates are one of many factors that help buyers to make informed decisions about whether to purchase a property and it is important any notations on these planning certificates are as accurate and reliable as possible
  •  Current hazards are things that pose an immediate risk like local beach erosion or coastal flooding. Future hazards on the other hand are things that are projected to impact the property in the future due to sea level rise or receding shorelines
  • From today we will ensure that advice about current or future coastal hazards, contained on these planning certificates, is evidence-based and clear
  • Councils are advised to make a clear distinction between a current or future hazard, which will give the community greater confidence in how information on coastal hazards is disclosed.

 

As you can read in this full Press Release and in the Planning Circular it refers to, there’s still wiggle room for councils but this is certainly a step in the right direction.

 

 

The Proof will be in the (Minister’s) Pudding

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NSW Environment Minister Rob Stokes hasn’t been in his job long but is already making waves for coastal communities.

 

 

Our sympathies go out to the community at Old Bar (near Taree) faced with not only  a major erosion problem but now the Minister’s recent decision to reject their council’s proposal for a protective rock wall.

With a $50 million price tag this wall was always going to be a tough sell.

But for the Old Bar and Taree-coast communities this latest report in their local paper about the Minister’s alternative proposal of Planned Retreat for the whole of the Taree coastline was every bit as tough.

 

The community at Lake Cathie, an hour’s drive north of Old Bar, must be monitoring these developments closely as their own coastal erosion decision looms. As you can see from this report Minister Stokes has clearly said (my italics not his)

“….the community should not see the Old Bar decision as a precedent. “The whole point of our approach to coastal erosion and integrated coastal management is that every embayment [coastline recess] is different,…..the government would make decisions based on rational evidence and a thorough assessment of the environmental, social and economic consequences of the plans which councils put forward.”

 

In fact, it’s a fair bet that residents all along the NSW coast will be watching the Minister’s impending decision for  Lake Cathie to see if he is true to his words. Will Lake Cathie get a decision based on rational evidence or will this decision be another plank in a policy of planned-retreat-by-stealth? As always with politicians, the proof of the pudding will be in his actions not his words.

 

 

Wooli’s success makes the news

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Our recent article on DuneCare’s success in “Building Sandcastles” to protect the beach’s main dune quickly caught the eye of the news media.

 

If you missed either of the articles published on September 30th here they are:

 

– from ABC News,  “..Wooli reports success in tackling coastal erosion” and

 

– from NBN News,  ” A possible solution for erosion at Wooli“.  A couple of points to note about the NBN article (1) you may need Apple’s QuickTime media player to see this one and (2) their presenter got it a bit wrong referring to a “Sand Pumping” project rather than a “Sand Sourcing” project for which Council budgeted $25,000 (not $100,000) with the remaining $75,000 to come from the NSW government.

 

 

 

 

Legal Twist in the Tale

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Do beach-front landowners have the right to defend their homes from the ocean and do governments have a duty to help them? Legal disputes over ownership of land gradually surrendered to the sea date back to 14th-century England.

Last year the NSW Parliament changed legislation to make it easier for owners to defend their properties. However, the Supreme Court may soon be asked to clarify this long debated question for all NSW coastal townships including Wooli, as reported in this  article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

CCPA Steering Committee members are in regular consultation with other hotspot community leaders to stay on top of this issue and consider responses should that be necessary.

 

 

 

“..jump away from that doomsday scenario.”

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The title of this article is part of a  recent quote from Brad Hazzard, NSW Minister for the Department of Planning and Infrastructure,

“The problem that property owners face is that some councils have been casting potential longer-term issues as a clear-and-present danger,” Mr Hazzard said.  “We just need to get councils to jump away from that doomsday scenario.”

Minister Hazzard was quoted as part of a story in The Australian entitled  “Climate Doomsday powers to be eroded”. This story highlights the State government’s revised planning directions to councils.

CCPA-Wooli members may recall from our last article,Backwards or Forwards, that Wyong Council has decided to follow State advice and “jump away from the doomsday scenario” in their coastal planning. Unfortunately, as you’ll see in that article Clarence Valley Council (CVC) continues to treat 86-year modelling forecasts as clear-and-present-danger in their Coastal Zone Management Plans, including the one for Wooli beach. Comparing the beach today to the dire forecast in this clipping from the Daily Examiner in 1997 indicates the difficulty of forecasting out even 17 years, much less 86.

 

Coastal Hotspot communities understand that coastal management is a complex problem for all our councils and one they are struggling to manage as highlighted in this recent report in the Byron Bay Echo (thanks to our CCPA member Ian Oelrichs for sending it in).

CCPA-Wooli is continuing to work with CVC, the relevant State government departments and the Hotspot community groups to pull together to  find a balanced solution.