EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Coastal Erosion Policy Submission, August 2016 Collaroy-Narrabeen Beach south of Devitt Street is quite simply a national disgrace, testimony to decades of mismanagement and buck passing. Surfrider remains implacably opposed to seawall construction here or along any beach. Seawalls have an incredibly negative effect on beaches as the June 2016 East Coast Low has proved yet again. Since the time of the Line in the Sand 2002 more and more data has shown that sea level rise is real and that storm activity more chaotic. Surfrider calls for the community, NBC, NSW, and Commonwealth Governments come together to ensure a whole of government approach to find a sustainable solution to the problems facing the beach. Beach amenity and surf quality must be the primary purpose of any public monies being allocated for Collaroy/Narrabeen. Surfrider calls for a special zone be created (Area 2:CZMP) to be jointly managed by state and local government, provisioning concepts of value capture when properties are sold and/or quarterly or annual levies, which would ensure the ongoing maintenance of the beach and adding to property values. Surfrider calls for council to revisit the potential for a sand pumping system similar to those at Noosa or the Gold Coast. Surfrider also calls for some experimentation in delivering lagoon entrance sand to the beach such as rain-bowing sand into the break in an effort to improve surf quality and amenity along the beach. A review of legislative processes to enable rolling funds for coastal buy-back and retreat needs to be developed that could capitalize on developing tourism technologies. Surfrider calls for an immediate release by NBC for resources to fund at least one full time position to co-ordinate and administer all matters regarding Area 2: Collaroy-Narrabeen Beach. 1
Coastal Erosion Policy Submission - August 2016 Surfrider Foundation Northern Beaches Branch has a long and abiding association with the Collaroy -Narrabeen beach and the erosion problems associated with it. Since its inception in Australia Surfrider has argued the case against hard armouring of beach coastlines as it is profoundly detrimental to natural coastal processes. Surfrider remains implacably opposed to seawall construction here or along any beach. Seawalls have an incredibly negative effect on beaches as the June 2016 East Coast Low has proved yet again. In 2002 Surfrider called on residents to oppose the construction of a seawall along Collaroy/Narrabeen Beach and was famously supported by more than 3000 of them forming the Line in the Sand (photo attached) demanding improved management of this famous stretch of coast. The stance taken by these residents was, and remains, valid. Surfrider is of the firm conviction that public sentiment against hard protective structures along beaches has only increased over the past 14 years. During this time more and more data has shown that sea level rise is real and that storm activity is becoming more chaotic. This year we have witnessed the strongest ever recorded cyclone in the Pacific Region (Winston Fiji March 2016) and an East Coast Low of abnormal strength and direction. Everyone paying attention to the dramatic climatic changes taking place knows that the properties along Collaroy/Narrabeen Beach have NO 2
LONG TERM FUTURE the only conjecture is how long is long. Surfrider believes a great opportunity to acquire the damaged properties this year was missed (as they have been throughout history, storm after storm mismanagement has cost our community dearly) but insists, from both the point of overwhelming public support and what is required for long term beach health, that no public monies be allocated for the protection of these properties at the expense of the beach. It is apparent that Surfrider s preferred management options (no hard structures) will not be enforced, indeed despite our protestations, such structures were made permissible under the CZMP for the area in 2014. Had Surfrider not activated public sentiment in 2002, Council may well have built a wall and all ensuing damage to beach, wall and property would have been the responsibility in perpetuity of the community at large rather than those who would have received the benefit. Surfrider saved the state a massive ongoing responsibility through the Line in the Sand action and has no intention of giving up those hard fought gains. We now ask that the community (NBC, NSW, and Commonwealth) come together to ensure a whole of government approach to the long term management of the beach, a beach of international note producing world champion surfers and the testing ground for game changing surfboard design innovations such as the three fin thruster and removable fin systems. This beach is studied to within an inch of its life! Solutions exist to provide for the appropriate quantity of sand to ensure the now permissible hard structures are rarely exposed and when they are the beach is able to quickly recover. We have the technology, we have the know how, we have the sand reserves, we have the social license so all we need is the political will to realize the funding requirements to progress the solution to satisfy all stakeholders and property owners alike.sand NOURISHMENT is what is needed and it is needed NOW. 3
Surfrider applauds the Administrator s comments of July 7 2016 Extraordinary Council Meeting where he said Notwithstanding the concerns of private property owners, the community s right to access and enjoy Collaroy-Narrabeen beach is paramount and for this reason, I am of the firm belief that any proposed long term protection works must be accompanied by sand nourishment. This will be increasingly important as we attempt to mitigate the effects of sea-level rise and other climate change influences on coastal processes. These comments are consistent with the objectives of the CZMP that identifies and prioritises actions that: -protect and preserve beach environments and beach amenity -manage current and projected future risks from coastal hazards -ensuring continuing and undiminished public access to beaches headlands and waterways -protect and promote culture of both beaches RECCOMMENDATIONS The time is upon us to act for the future of this extraordinary asset. To this end Surfrider makes the following recommendations 1.Beach amenity and surf quality must be the primary purpose of any public monies being allocated for Collaroy/Narrabeen 2.The area identified as Area 2: Collaroy-Narrabeen Beach south of Devitt Street in the Draft CZMP be excised from normal planning 4
controls and a special zone be created to be jointly managed by state and local government ensuring the currently competing interests of private property protection and beach amenity can be successfully managed over the longer term. State and Local Government then approach the Federal Government for the necessary emergency funding to sufficiently nourish Collaroy- Narrabeen (and other at-risk sites) to set up a viable future for the beach. The rationale behind this request is that planning instruments currently in play do not take account of the extraordinary issues evident along this beach. An example of this is that even section 496B Local Government Act 1993, only allows council to levy an annual charge for the provision by council of coastal protection services for a parcel of ratable land that benefits from the services so where no service (protection) exists, council would be required to provide it before it can levy anything. Advice seems to indicate that council would need to construct protection before any levy can be charged - even though millions of public dollars are spent on studying and understanding this beach, moving sand from north to south in the lagoon entrance clearing programs and the inevitable emergency works that take place after every major storm event. These activities apparently do not constitute a levy-able service even though the properties that benefit from these actions are bought and sold and seemingly always pocket a tidy profit while the expenses fall to the broader community. Were a special zone created - a form of horizontal strata as it were, where the beach becomes the point for shared maintenance - Surfrider believes the benefits accruing to the broader community through a wider beach and the protection and amenity the wider beach provides for private owners could be better achieved. Insisting on provisions such as value capture when properties are sold and/or quarterly or annual levies, could ensure the ongoing maintenance of protective structures, ongoing research and sand nourishment were properly able to be achieved. As the law currently stands this would appear impossible to achieve. Surfrider believes such a system would deliver increased property 5
values to land holders well over and above costs entailed as well as providing greater beach amenity to the general public at a greatly reduced cost. Surfrider believes the state government would be crucial to the concept of this type of excised special zone given the resources and history of council and its local politics with regard to this beach. State government buy-in would ensure greater property owner confidence in beach maintenance and management with the resources it commands and therefore beachfront owners would be more likely to agree to special levies and conditions 3.Surfrider calls for council to revisit the potential for a sand pumping system similar to those at Noosa or the Gold Coast. Such a system could remove the consistent build up of sand at the lagoon entrance and deliver it at first to the beach south east of the NNSLSC then progressively south along the beach eventually to Area 2. This initiative may need to be undertaken in stages, but the longer term goal should offer the possibility of quickly and efficiently moving sand along the beach in either direction to rapidly repair the increasingly likely chaotic storm damage predicted by modeling. Such a system would also alleviate the regular procrastination with regard to lagoon entrance clearing exercises that have been a hallmark of recent decades improving lagoon health and lessening flooding risk. 4.Surfrider also calls for some experimentation in delivering lagoon entrance sand to the beach such as rainbowing sand into the break in an effort to improve surf quality along the beach, council spends a fortune providing for other leisure activities in the municipality but seems to always go for the cheap option when it comes to delivering any resource for arguably the most popular activity on the Northern Beaches surfing. 5.Surfrider wants more innovative legislative processes developed to enable coastal retreat and property buyback utilizing new technologies such as Airbnb, for a rolling fund to enable these increasingly expensive acquisitions. Coastal properties have been acquired through section 94 contributions, which require council to turn property into open space and thus having no income potential to fund further acquisitions. A well managed acquire and lease scheme could provide a way forward. 6
6.Surfrider calls for an immediate release by NBC for resources to fund at least one full time position to co- ordinate and administer all matters regarding Area 2: Collaroy- Narrabeen Beach. This person would liaise with all stakeholders and owners, state and federal governments, as well as coastal professionals, to advance management of the area and concentrate on how best to achieve an ongoing sustainable beach environment. The person would source and apply for funding to ensure sand nourishment becomes a reality. Astonishingly in a community as sophisticated as modern Sydney is Area2: Collaroy - Narrabeen Beach is quite simply a national disgrace,testimony to decades of mismanagement and buck passing. Surfrider strongly believes a rare window of political possibility currently exists to make this right and will lend any assistance it can to achieve sustainable outcomes befitting such a famous stretch of sand. Yours Sincerely Brendan Donohoe President, Northern Beaches Branch LINE IN THE SAND SEA WALL PROTEST 2002 7