Collaroy seawall a step closer with council approval more than two years after storm
A SEAWALL to protect homes that were battered by severe storms in June 2016 has finally been approved by Northern Beaches Council.
Manly
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A SEAWALL to protect homes that were battered by severe storms in June 2016 has finally been approved by Northern Beaches Council.
The proposal — the details of which the Manly Daily revealed in July last year, 13 months after the 10 homes between Ramsay and Stuart streets were severely undermined — went before the council’s independent planning panel last week.
The $1.7 million plan, lodged by Horton Coastal Engineering, warns that unless a seawall is built at the foot of the houses to stop further erosion, the consequences could be catastrophic. It warns that, without action, Pittwater Rd — including communication and sewer lines underneath it — could be damaged beyond repair by 2074.
A YEAR ON: COLLAROY RESIDENTS HOPE TO HAVE SEWALL BUILT BY SUMMER
Mayor Michael Regan said Northern Beaches Council had been working with the State Government and residents to finalise a solution at Collaroy since the June 2016 storm that threatened to wash a number of homes into the sea.
“Approval of this DA, recommended by council to the planning panel, brings owners another step closer to being able to protect their properties,“ Cr Regan said.
“It’s been a long and challenging process because the owners wish to build a permanent structure on a public beach.
“That has meant approvals are required from the state government who took a long time to provide their support.”
A spokesman for the residents Garry Silk said it was “good news”.
“We are very pleased, but it is only one step in the process we have to go through we have now got to come to some sort of agreement with the Lands Department to build on their land,” he said.
“They are meant to be coming back to us with a valuation.
The Lands Department took a lengthy amount of time to give consent for parts of its land to be used, at the resident’s expense.
It has been determining the value of some of its land needed by residents for their Seawall.
A Lands Department spokesman said it should not have delayed the DA determination.
Mr Silk expressed frustration at the bureaucratic process which has led to a lengthy battle to even have a DA assessed.
“This is multifaceted, it relies on different departments, and no one individual government department is responsible for the coast,” he said.
‘The problem is they put all these wonderful bits of legislation and regulation together and they don’t think through how is it going to work.”
Meanwhile, the council has resubmitted a $5.5million grant application to the State Government for additional funding for the proposed works on public and private land.
“Recent changes have been made to the Coastal and Estuary Grants Program guidelines which we believe may assist us to secure some additional relief for the residents and for the works we need to complete on council land,” he said.
“We have applied for a contribution of 10 per cent of the forecast cost for private protection works and council proposes to assist with an additional 10 per cent..
“We have also asked the state for 50 per cent towards the cost of protecting our public assets.”
As it stands, some affected residents will be coping with the costs of the work, with each of the 10 households building the seawall looking at a $200,000 bill.
“That is just our group,” Mr Silk said. “There are a couple with larger frontages, they will be up for $300,000 and some up further north will be up for even more. You only need one person not to be able to afford it and the whole thing falls down like a pack of cards.”
He said he was not sure if his group of residents could all afford to pay for the works.
Mr Silk said there needed to be a state body that dealt with coastal protection in known hot spots lsuch as Collaroy.
He pointed to the Office of Environment and Heritage’s $83.6 million worth of grants available, saying they were too hard to obtain. Two years into the five year program, just $2.63 million has been handed out.
