Ettalong Channel dredging: $2.45 million for long-term plan
THE 50/50 dredging money is in, with $2.45 million on the cards to fund a long-term program for Ettalong Channel.
Central Coast
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THE 50/50 dredging money is in, with $2.45 million on the cards to fund a long-term program for Ettalong Channel.
The State Government has announced it will kick in $1.225 million, through the Rescuing Our Waterways program, with Central Coast Council required to match the funding dollar for dollar and oversee the program.
It has been a long road to get to this point, with council previously arguing it is not their responsibility to fund dredging of the Ettalong Channel.
At a council meeting in May, attended by hundreds of concerned residents, council voted to apply for the 50/50 Rescuing Our Waterways funding.
“This will give council the opportunity to set up a long term maintenance strategy,” Terrigal state Liberal MP Adam Crouch said at today’s announcement.
“The reason we are in this situation is that it has been left for the past 10 years. Council need to keep monitoring the channel which is their responsibility and they just need to get on with it now.”
The new dredging program will see 80,000 cubic metres of sand from the navigation channel removed, with the intention to relocate it to the nearshore areas of Ettalong, Ocean and Umina Beaches.
The project will focus on keeping Ettalong and Box Head Channels open and navigable.
Fantasea Ferries were forced to cease services to Ettalong and Wagstaffe in May due to the state of the channel. Residents are hoping services will resume soon.
“Everyone here in Wagstaffe and Ettalong are incredibly disadvantaged,” Mr Crouch said.
After the announcement, council released a statement welcoming the confirmation of the funding, which it applied for in June.
Mayor Jane Smith said she was pleased the application had been processed so quickly.
“The devil is in the detail of how best to undertake this dredging exercise in cooperation with the State Government and how we will now use the sand to renourish nearby beaches,” she said.
“We are willing to work through a long-term solution for our community. As we have said all along there is currently no funding allocated in this year’s budget so savings of $1.225 million will now need to be found in other areas to pay for our share.”
Taylor Martin MLC said the long-term plan was urgently needed.
“Council should have budgeted for this, as they put in the application and committed to it,” he said.
“This is the best plan for the channel, which is urgently needed for residents, commuters and tourists.”
The 50/50 funding is in addition to the State Government’s $660,000 emergency dredging which is currently taking place in the Channel. This involves removal of about 10,000 cubic metres of sand to provide a channel of 30 metres width and 2.5 metres depth. A further 10,000 cubic metres will be removed to widen the entrance opening in an effort to slow the movement of sand back into the navigational channel.