I want my children's great grandchildren to play on sand

A council elected by ratepayers surely must have paramount influence in decision making.

Firstly, with development decisions such as Sporties in Woy Woy and now the dredging issue at Ocean Beach, we are seeing transfer of responsibility and costs in a way that fits the State Government but not ratepayers.

The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce proposal to purchase a dredge with Council money should not be acted on.

The state of the Peninsula's town centres should be enough for the Chamber of Commerce to be kept busy.

If, as they claim, they are experienced business operators, they should stick to those issues.

Dredging a natural environment should be left for those experts with environmental knowledge and credentials to give advice for the long term good of the beach and estuary, not for any vested short-term interests.

The Chamber of Commerce has neither the knowledge nor capacity to give unbiased input to an elected council.

Removing all vegetation, in opposition to "greenies" concerns as Matthew Wales recently put it, shows that only dollars concern them and is really as stupid an idea as their support for a Fast Ferry to Sydney.

Beaches are a natural moving beasts.

Replacing the natural vegetation with a concrete promenade as the Chamber of Commerce proposes is a short-term solution that will benefit few.

The only real long-term solution is retreat back from Ocean Beach.

Council needs to make decisions that will ensure we have a beach for future generations.

As a 92-year-old woman, I want to know my children's great grandchildren can play on natural sand dunes, not a sandstone wall.

Email, 22 Mar 2018

June Mitchell, Woy Woy