Central Coast Council debate The Entrance Channel in fiery meeting
They came in demanding urgent action on Tuggerah Lakes and The Entrance Channel and left with promises of more reports and a reassessment of trigger levels. Here’s what happened at council last night.
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Anger and emotion well and truly flooded Central Coast Council last night as hundreds of people turned up demanding action on the state of Tuggerah Lake and the heavily silted channel.
With recent rainfall resulting in significant floods – and the Central Coast declared a natural disaster zone – residents came for action with many calling for the council to be sacked.
It took two hours for the council to resolve the matter, with tensions reaching boiling point and some members of the gallery launching tirades of abuse before storming out.
At the end of the debate, they walked out calling council a “bloody joke”.
The council voted to look at previous studies on Tuggerah Lakes and The Entrance Channel with a view to design a long-term solution while a dredging program will be considered in the short term. They will also reassess trigger levels for dredging and opening The Entrance Channel in storm events.
The council will immediately ensure the lake continues to drain, clean up the mess and identify where the drainage system has failed along with pushing for the State Government’s $600,000 dredging grant.
Owner of The Entrance Boat Shed Toni Moon blasted the council, saying its constant lack of action would result in class action and lawsuits. She said the Boat Shed was now “absolutely trashed” from flood waters.
“We begged you to buy a dredge,” she roared. “Action should have been taken before our houses and businesses went under. Take your political BS out of our local council, it doesn’t belong here.”
Mayor Lisa Matthews, whose home is also flooded, took the brunt of the abuse however said “now is not the time for political point scoring”.
“We need pull together and rebuild and repair,” she said.
“I want to correct misinformation about council’s support and action. This council has always supported dredging and as recently as December endorsed a roundtable of experts.”
Cr Matthews said the council had already applied for dredging funding.
Cr Bruce McLachlan said council should have acted to open the channel during the storms, which saw more than 300mm of rainfall across the region.
“I had residents ring me before the storm,” he said.
“I could not instruct the chief executive officer to get staff down there. The only person that can do that is the mayor. I was going to ask for her resignation tonight but I will leave it up to the public.”
Cr Jilly Pilon described the situation as the “Ettalong Channel debacle on steroids”.
“We need action now, people are sitting at home flooded in,” she said.
“Some of us in here have been desperately calling out for a long term dredge management plan. This is why our community is now paying the price.”
Cr Pilon called for the immediate reassessment of trigger levels for dredging and opening the channel.
Cr Matthews has hit back this morning at some of the accusations, saying at no point over the weekend did any councillor call her personally to ask about opening the channel.
“I was in constant contact with the CEO, working out the safest and best time to make a move,” she said.
“We had to wait until it was low tide and the approval processes were in place.”
She described last night’s decision as an “active” one saying the council will work out the best option – whether it’s a break wall or not – and move forward.
At the meeting she asked questions regarding the council’s budget and a potential special rate levy to fund works at The Entrance.
“We haven’t got an open cheque book,” she said. “We need to identify how we can fund this. Nobody has given us costings, we need due diligence.”
The council has previously conducted studies looking at break walls and groyne options.
A staff member at the meeting pointed out there would have to be further consideration before construction of a break wall due to the risks to houses at North Entrance and effects on the J curve of beach.