No agreement on how to fix beach erosion

The Member for Gosford, Central Coast Council, the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and the community all want to fix the declining amenity of Ocean and Umina Beaches but they do not appear to be able to agree on how to beat the ongoing impact of erosion.

It is a year since the NSW Government endorsed the Gosford Beaches Coastal Zone Management Plan which set out a range of short-term measures to address the immediate and ongoing hazard of dune erosion between the Ocean Beach and Umina Beach Surf Life Saving Clubs and between the Ocean Beach SLSC clubhouse and Ettalong Point (precinct 3 and 4 in the plan).

"I am building a petition to the State Government to have some action," Member for Gosford Ms Liesl Tesch said.

"We need community action for these beaches to be saved," she said.

"This is not a new thing and it is something the NSW Government has seen coming for a long time.

"Council doesn't have the funds to fix it.

"Central Coast Council has just been forced to spend its whole kerb and guttering budget on dredging," she said.

The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce has called on Council to take urgent action to restore safe access onto Ocean Beach.

"The state of the two main beach access points and the disability access outside the Ocean Beach Surf Club is an absolute disgrace," said Chamber president Mr Matthew Wales.

"It is unacceptable that Central Coast Council has done little to rectify these unsafe access points other than some temporary cosmetic dumping of sand that does nothing other than buy a few weeks grace before they are scoured out again," he said.

"The disability access near the lifeguard tower has been totally unusable for nearly 18 months whilst the available width of the beach continues to shrink.

"The erosion problems are symptomatic of Council's failure to come to grips with the local coastal erosion problems and the dredging of the Ettalong channel.

"The Chamber is calling on the Central Coast Council to implement works to permanently restore access to Ocean Beach well ahead to the summer season which is only four months away.

"The days of waiting for mother nature to come along push sand back onto the beach in any meaningful way are gone.

"She is clearly intent on ripping sand out of the dune system and building new sand bars off Ocean Beach and Ettalong Point.

"The Chamber wants the beach re-profiled, the vegetation stripped back, the beach accesses regraded and the disability access near the lifeguard tower completely rebuilt.

"If this was happening at Terrigal or Avoca Beach, it would be fixed immediately.

"It is no longer acceptable that Peninsula beaches are treated like the poor cousin.

"Action needs to be taken now."

In a written statement in response to questions from Peninsula News about the recent collapse of the last useable walking track between the Umina Beach Surf Life Saving Club and the beach berm, Central Coast Council chief Mr Brian Glendinning said the council was committed to protecting environmental assets as well as providing safe and accessible beaches.

"Recent storm events on the Central Coast have generated high tides further contributing to the natural process of sand-dune erosion at Ocean Beach," the statement said.

"On May 21, the State Government made a commitment to urgently dredge the Ettalong Channel.

"As resolved, Council lodged an application for State Government 'Rescuing our Waterways' grant funding on June 7, including the placement of dredged sand to replenish adjacent Umina and Ocean Beach beaches.

"Central Coast Council and the NSW Government (through the NSW Coastal and Estuary Management Program) have jointly committed $490,000 to address issues associated with erosion at Umina and Ocean Beach.

"Council has recently contracted a consultant to carry out a detailed analysis and assessment of the sand transport system within Broken Bay, and relevant environmental and legislative requirements.

"A key output will be the delivery of a sustainable and long-term beach nourishment implementation plan to increase the storm buffer and improve beach amenity at Umina and Ocean Beach.

"Council's implementation of the plan will be subject to securing applicable funding and will include a program of regular monitoring and assessment.

"Recent dune stabilisation measures at Ocean Beach undertaken by Council include beach scraping and the installation of additional dune fencing, with further scraping to be undertaken over the coming months."

Ms Tesch said she was concerned that $490,000 funding, which included $245,000 from the NSW government was not new money and not anywhere near enough to complete even necessary stop-gap work on the beachfront.

"It won't be sufficient," she said.

Management actions identified in the Coastal Zone Management Plan to deal with erosion in Precinct 3 and 4 of the 'Ocean Umina Beach' included the beach scraping and additional dune fencing mentioned in Council's written statement.

Repair of beach access ways and revegetation of dune following erosion in a large storm event were other short-term actions listed.

Dunecare groups were to be encouraged and assisted to improve dune vegetation management using appropriate endemic vegetation and consolidation of beach access.

Council, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and the Surf Life Saving Clubs were responsible, according to the plan, for erosion monitoring and other short-term actions.

Beach access way overhauls were deemed to cost $20,000 for two with funding to come from Council, NSW Government or Federal Government.

Management of dunes was supposed to be part of an LGA-wide dune management strategy completed in accordance with a Coastal Dune Management Manual (2001).

Consolidation of beach access ways along Umina Beach was to be considered but has become inevitable as, one by one, serviceable access ways have been washed away.

According to the plan, beach scraping performed by Council during the past 12 months has been paid for from current budget allocations.

Likewise, it was responsible, along with Dunecare, for the installation of sand trapping and that was also to be paid for within current budget allocations.

The Coastal Zone Management Plan said: "Sustainable funding and financing arrangements for coastal management options will be established in consultation with key stakeholders.

"It is recognised that the costs of coastal management actions often exceed councils' capacity to pay, and currently there is no clearly agreed approach to identify who should be expected to contribute to those costs.

"To address this, the State Government delivered arrangements will be based on a set of cost sharing principles to fairly and transparently identify who benefits from proposed coastal management actions, and therefore who should contribute to the costs.

"A number of Local/State/Federal Government and funding mechanisms are currently available to support the implementation of actions outlined in the CZMP and to assist in recovery following storm events.

"Funding programs are regularly changing and Council will maintain an awareness of appropriate funding opportunities as they arise.

"Each funding program has limited funding available and applications must meet stringent guidelines prior to being assessed on a competitive basis.

"Under the Coastal Management Program, the NSW Government provides coastal management grants to support local government in managing the risks from coastal hazards, such as coastal erosion, and restoring degraded coastal habitats.

"Grants under the NSW Coastal Management Program are administered by the Office of Environment and Heritage and provide up to 50 per cent of project costs.

"The Funding program typically provides up to $2 million per annum."

SOURCE:

Media statement, 13 Jun 2018

Brian Glendenning, Central Coast Council

Interview, 13 Jun 2018

Liesl Tesch, Member for Gosford

Media release, 13 Jun 2018

Matthew Wales, Peninsula Chamber of Commerce

Gosford Beaches Coastal Zone Management Plan

Worley Parsons, 4 Nov 2015

Reporter: Jackie Pearson