Secret policy replaces beaches plan

Gosford Council has revoked the Umina-Ocean Beach Management Plan which set environmental standards and cleaning practices for the beaches.

It is being replaced by a secret Beach Management Policy.

The new policy will not be available for public viewing or the normal process of public comment because it is an internal "legal-risk management document rather than a public policy".

The new policy would prevail over an existing "services agreement" between the natural areas unit and lifeguard services unit within council and "no management standard in the Service Agreement shall be implemented".

The proposal was first raised in the Council's strategy-policy forum last August and was later deferred until the May 2 council meeting this year.

Gosford Council's risk management coordinator Mr Alan Collison said that council had not changed its dune restoration policy.

"The dunes will continue to be protected under the Code of Practice in the Beach Management Policy," he said.

The original plan included directives to restore the dunes that had been degraded over time by scouring from town drains, removal of dune vegetation and removal of sand from the beach.

A program of weed removal, vegetation planting and maintenance was also part of the original plan.

The original plan also included a regular cleaning program removing dangerous items such as broken glass, syringes and litter from the beaches and dunes.

Mr Collison said that the plan was revoked because council staff had advised that they did not manage these beaches in the way it was set out in the original document.

Peninsula Dune Care convenor Mr Michael Gillian said he had approached Gosford Council three months ago to discuss the matter of dune protection on the Peninsula.

He advised council that machine raking of the beaches undermines the dune system and that hand cleaning was a more favourable option.

Mr Gillian said would welcome a change to the beach cleaning program if it specified hand cleaning but he was concerned that the new Beach Management Policy was confidential.

"There is no transparency.

"We need to know what is in the Code of Practice to determine whether it is acceptable or not."

"The Code should be freely available for comment.

"We want to know whether the new policy takes into account the information regarding the protection of the dune systems on the beaches," he said.

Peninsula Families Action Group president Ms Sarah Tolmie said that there was a lack of glass clean up at the beach.

"The group has put in a number of requests to remove the glass at the beach and implement a regular maintenance program," she said.

She said that the lack of public access to a beach management policy raised concerns that council were not willing to put appropriate funds towards what is a primary health and safety issue."

Jenni Darwin May 27