Community Action Group Wamberal Beach Save Our Sand (Wamberal SOS) is calling upon its membership to update the new government on the campaign to save the beach from a seawall.
The group wants the new State Government to halt all action on the proposed Terminal Protection Structure (seawall) until the Central Coast has an elected Council, including a pause on the transfer of land along Wamberal Beach to Council.
The group wants more rigorous investigations into all solutions, not just a wall, with natural dune stabilisation and sand nourishment prioritised.
They say the future of the beach is at stake.
The previous NSW Government established the Wamberal Seawall Advisory Taskforce on July 31, 2020 to provide Council, which still had councillors at that stage, with support to implement “a sustainable long-term solution to the coastal erosion issues at Wamberal Beach”.
The council was put into administration in late October, 2020 and two years later the Council-under-administration adopted a set of engineering guidelines for the wall in October 2022.
These included that: “responsibility for the design, construction and maintenance of any seawall fronting private property rest with the landowners that benefit from the proposed coastal protection works and are to be fully funded by each respective private property owner”.
The decision also confirmed that Council would pay for coastal protection works fronting Council-owned land at the beach access ways and Wamberal Surf Lifesaving Club.
At the same time, Council also sought commitment from the NSW Government, as the owner of five beachfront allotments at The Ruins and 69 Ocean View Drive, for coastal protection works fronting those lands and the use of the Engineering Design Requirements.
Council-under-administration also noted that sand nourishment was not expected to be required in the short term due to the location of the wall on private land landward of the current beach.
Council confirmed that, when the need for sand nourishment arises, private property owners would be required to contribute to the cost of that beach nourishment to maintain public beach amenity at a capped rate of $100/lineal metre/year, plus annual
increases determined CPI.
The administrator also agreed that council should write to the Minister for Local Government, Minister for Planning and Homes,
Minister for the Environment and Minister for Regional NSW seeking:
a. amendments to the Local Government Act 1993 to allow for the costs of construction works on private land to be recouped
through a coastal protection services charge or similar mechanism.
b. development of a NSW-wide approach to mass sand nourishment to support coastal councils to manage the impacts of coastal erosion; and
c. additional support for coastal councils to address the increasing risk of coastal erosion to which their communities are exposed.
Since then, council has been working with landowners for a whole of embayment solution.
The seawall taskforce disbanded on March 1 of this year, weeks before the March 25 state election which saw a change of government but the topic continues to be covered by the Catchments to Coast Committee.
The Minutes of the Catchments to Coast Committee meeting of March 29 explained that Council staff have been working with the Wamberal Protection Association (WPA) residents’ group to progress a seawall development application.
Council will enter into an agreement with WPA as a partnering landowner on Wamberal Beach, the minutes stated.
Council staff supporting delivery of this project in partnership with the WPA will not participate in development assessment, with strict protocols being established to ensure Council’s role as a proponent and assessor, the minutes stated.
Wamberal SOS say they know that Terrigal MP Adam Crouch and Council are aware of the community opposition to the proposed wall but they want to alert the new State Government.
“We can still stop this wall, but we need to stop it before a DA is submitted. Afterwards, it will be harder to stop,” the group states.
See more on their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/wamberalbeachsos
