Other councils have submitted complying dredging applications

The CEO of the Ettalong Diggers Club called and hosted a public meeting to discuss the lack of action by our local council to arrange for dredging of the entry and navigational channel from Little Box Head to Ettalong Beach.

The channel is currently effectively closed to responsible maritime operators, commercial and private, because the channel does not have adequate navigable depth and width.

To improve accessibility to the state's waterways, the NSW Government has developed the Rescuing our Waterways program.

The program grants funding to councils on a dollar-for-dollar basis to help deliver better access to local waterways for recreational and commercial waterway users and safer boating.

This creates flow-on benefits for tourism and local economies.

Coastal councils are eligible to apply.

Successful councils will be required to make a financial contribution of at least 50 per cent of project costs and be responsible for developing and managing their projects.

Dredging projects that may be subsidised under this program include: The program will run over four years (2017/18-2020/21) with up to $6 million in funding available.

Funding of up to $1.5 million is available for projects on an annual basis with financing of up to 50 per cent of a project's costs usually offered for successful grant applicants.

Gosford City Council and now Central Coast Council have had opportunities to obtain funding for dredging works in the channel for many years, but have failed to submit complying applications for funds made available by the NSW Government.

The funding made available by the State Government to councils is for 50 per cent of the cost to perform the works required.

However, the majority of councillors have maintained a position that the State Government "has a clear legal responsibility to maintain the channel for navigation." (Council media release, May 11.)

Other Councils along the NSW East Coast, such as Sutherland Shire, Evans Head, Ballina and Brunswick Head have clearly submitted complying applications, because their bars and channels have been dredged in the last few years to enable maritime traffic to continue and operate safely.

These councils and councillors did what they were elected to do, which amongst other things include: To ensure that resources are used efficiently and effectively and services are provided in accordance with the Best Value Principles to best meet the needs of the local community; To promote appropriate business and employment opportunities; To represent the collective interests of residents, ratepayers and the local community.

I wonder if anybody will lose their jobs on the ferries, or at the Ettalong Diggers or at cafes and restaurants around Ettalong, Wagstaffe and Hardys Bay.

There are many students attending school at Palm Beach, which now have to be driven to Patonga.

I think that Council should provide a special small bus service to transport the kids to and from Patonga for as long as the ferries are not able to maintain the Palm Beach, Wagstaffe, Ettalong run.

The media release referred to above also quotes Mayor Jane Smith.

"If Council must find the funding to dredge the channel, we would have to take funding away from essential services and priority projects," Mayor Smith said.

"We empathise with the Ettalong community and understand that an immediate solution is required.

"We call on the NSW government to fulfil their responsibilities by providing funding to maintain the navigation channel in Brisbane Water.

"We will make an application for funding on the clear proviso that the full funding is provided by the State Government."

"The community need to understand there are clear ramifications for the Coast including potential loss of services if Council is required to fund what is clearly a State Government responsibility," Mayor Smith said.

This sounds and looks like political waffle and infers that the channel dredging is not an essential service or priority project.

The Ettalong community, I am sure, will be very pleased that Mayor Smith and her colleagues empathise with them.

It is not just the Ettalong community that is affected by the closure of the channel entry to Brisbane Waters.

Starship Cruises have cancelled their Four Island Tourist cruise.

Other charter operations, such as whale watching, fishing and sailing are also affected.

Many visitors, we call them tourists, used to come from the northern beaches to Wagstaffe and Ettalong for a day out, visiting our National Parks and having refreshments at the numerous coffee shops and restaurants in the area.

The statement that Council will make an application for funding on the clear proviso that the full funding is provided by the State Government is an astounding statement.

The funding currently available is on a 50-50 basis; and the councillors, including the mayor, must understand that this is the condition of the funding under Rescuing our Waterways.

The Council is proposing to make a non-compliant application; why bother, wasting any more of our money on hare-brained schemes such as outlaying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an excavator on a barge in the Ettalong channel to dig a hole in the sand.

I have done some preliminary estimates on the quantities to be dredged to create a safe navigation channel from Little Box Head to Half Tide rocks.

For a 20m wide channel with one-in-four batters to give a navigable depth of 3.5 metres and a length of 1700 metre, the estimated quantity is around 100,000 cubic metres.

Because the channel is no longer deep enough to accommodate a trailing hopper suction dredge, I have presently only located one dredge, which can carry out this work.

It is owned by McQuade Marine in Queensland and has provision for a suction head in front of the vessel.

The name of the vessel is Faucon, and it has performed dredging at various locations up and down the East Coast.

It has a capacity of 350 cubic metres and this takes approximately one hour to load.

On the assumption that the sand is required for beach nourishment at Ocean Beach, the dredged sand will be unloaded in four to 10 metre depth off the beach, allowing the reasonably constant south to south east swell to carry it up the beach.

This is standard practice.

The transport and unloading is estimated to take another hour, giving a daily productivity of around 1500 cubic metres.

Based on an hourly rate of $2500 and $150,000 for mobilisation and de-mobilisation, the estimated cost of the dredging is $1.6 million, half of which would be available from the State Government.

The Council must now decide whether to play party politics, or to get on with its charter to serve our local community.

Let us all not forget that the obligations of councillors are defined in the Local Government Act and the Local Government Chapter, which amongst other things state that: "A councillor is accountable to the local community for the performance of the council."

Letter, 11 May 2018

Peer Dalland, Hardys Bay