Ocean swells erode beachfront properties on Central Coast

A huge coastal swell has caused landslips underneath beachfront properties on parts of the Central Coast at the heart of a heated debate over a proposed seawall.

Central Coast Council issued an alert on Wednesday evening after large swells caused “significant coastal erosion” at Wamberal and the northern end of The Entrance.

Erosion at The Entrance after huge swells, shared by local MP David Mehan.

“Erosion has caused landslips at some private beachfront properties and steep sand escarpments,” the council statement said.

Debris had also been washed up on other beaches, including Blue Bay and Toowoon Bay.

Labor state member for The Entrance David Mehan said the erosion was “very distressing” but that no homes in The Entrance had been structurally damaged.

Adam Crouch, Liberal state member for Terrigal, said he was concerned by ongoing coastal erosion and welcomed all options, including sand nourishment promised by the premier this week.

“A holistic approach needs to be taken given these events are becoming more regular,” Crouch said.

Sand nourishment, by which sand is transported in from elsewhere to replenish the beach, has been successful further north at Stockton in Newcastle and is core to the recovery plan for the Gold Coast after Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

Chris Rogers from the Wamberal Protection Association said big swells resulted in land slippage along the beach for a number of properties and a lot more exposure of rocks and other protection put in place in 2020.

“We had the SES doorknocking last night with [the] council,” Rogers said. “The frustrating thing for us is that four and a half years ago, I was one of the many people who got evacuated, and we are still in the same position.”

Several homeowners at both Wamberal and The Entrance have lodged development applications to build hard protective barriers – effectively a seawall buried in the sand – to protect their properties.

The proposal has attracted controversy among other Wamberal residents who are concerned it would affect the beach for the rest of the community.

The erosion comes just a day after Premier Chris Minns travelled to Wamberal to make clear his opposition to plans for a seawall along the beach.

At Wamberal Breakers Country Club, more than 200 locals heard the premier back sand nourishment over the wall for the first time.

“I don’t have any confidence that the erection of a seawall wouldn’t have devastating impacts for the rest of the beach,” Minns said.

Rogers said the beachfront residents welcomed the premier’s commitment to sand nourishment but would continue their lawful process with the development applications as well.

The proposal for the 1.4km-long concrete wall at Wamberal was officially submitted to the council last year, but the idea gained traction in 2020 when wild storms caused such serious coastal erosion that beachfront homes began to crumble into the sea.

Thirty metres of beach were washed away and the foundations of some homes were pictured teetering precariously from the cliff.

Wamberal Beach has hosted multiple rallies against the proposed wall since that storm as the battle between the anti-wall Wamberal Beach Save Our Sand group and the pro-wall Wamberal Protection Association got heated.

Seawalls have also proved controversial in other communities, such as Collaroy on the northern beaches, which was described as a “hellscape” in 2022 when a storm washed away a huge swath of sand.

Experts in coastal erosion say seawalls are effective at protecting what is behind them but can exacerbate sand erosion underneath. However, a beach backed by natural dunes is also an effective barrier and can allow the beach to retreat as sea levels rise because of climate change.

Javier Leon, associate professor in physical geography at the University of the Sunshine Coast, said seawalls should be reserved for places where there is valuable public infrastructure behind them.

“I’m more of an advocate of nature-based solutions – having a healthy dune offers better protection in the long term for infrastructure,” Leon said.

“For those houses on dunes and in erosion-prone areas like Wamberal, I believe that a more cost-effective solution is actually buying back and just managing that retreat,” Leon said.

‘We need a solution’

Mehan said his personal view was that buybacks were “a valid option” that could be considered alongside beach nourishment and other solutions. He added that buybacks would not be suitable in every location, noting that in the case of The Entrance, there was also an adjacent channel.

“We need to get a solution that works for the whole state rather than wait for people to put in a DA – that’s not very satisfying,” Mehan said.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred devastated Gold Coast beaches last month.Credit: AAPIMAGE

A spokesperson for the NSW government said there were no plans for buybacks of beachfront properties anywhere in the state.

Rogers said the idea of buybacks was “ridiculous” in the case of Wamberal because fair compensation to homeowners would cost up to $700 million. He also said there were only 14 metres between the beach and the road, measured at two empty blocks, so the dunes would not provide sufficient protection for public infrastructure.

“All the homes at Wamberal Beach and along the coast have been bought through a legal process,” Rogers said. “If we have the right to buy there ... we’ve got a right to protect our homes.”

The swells on Wednesday were so powerful in Sydney that the Bondi Icebergs office was battered by waves, shattering 30 metres of glass fencing and sending water gushing into the building, dislodging furniture.

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