Gosford Council recently adjusted its sea level rise benchmarks for planning purposes, This was undertaken without any community consultation at all. It is time to involve to take us on the same journey!

The people of Gosford have a right to be involved in matters of public interest but yet again we are not given the opportunity.

Coastal residents of Gosford are in no doubt that soon we will see the Eurobodalla response to reduced sea level rise benchmarks.

Those residents directly affected by these decisions need to know what the plan is and want to be involved in designing it.

Eurobodalla Council has adopted new planning provisions that drive todays planning period of 35 years  to a 50 year planning period and increase sea level rise benchmarks.

Gosford Council is yet to state if they will also adopt these same planning periods for family homes. Shoalhaven uses regular reviews of sea levels as an alternative to speculative planning periods.

If Gosford takes the same approach as Eurobodalla: – Forget any future investment in Gosford  – Forget any changes to youth unemployment and watch people migrate from Gosford to Wyong.

As was recently suggested at a Council meeting, “if they don’t like it” then go!”. Please let us all know! – “What’s the plan”?  Should we stay or should we go?

Coastal Residents Incorporated
Pat Aiken – Secretary
148 Steyne Road
SARATOGA NSW
Australia 2251

Phone : + 61 (0)2 4369-2852
Mobile : + 61(0)414 800 188
Email : aiken012@bigpond.com

Key Eurobodalla Planning Periods for Family Homes – 25 March 2015

The Daily Telegraph –  17 February 2015 – Jim O’Rourke

Angry property owners, some of whom have homes valued at up to $5 million, say the ban on building inside flood zones is based on old climate change information.

Bucking the trend… Wyong Mayor Doug Eaton is going against the predictions.

THE future of more than 4000 residential and business land owners on the Central Coast is in limbo because of exaggerated local council predictions of sea-level rises supposedly caused by global warming.

Residents fear property values will be slashed, tourism development will be “sterilised” and household insurance premiums will skyrocket if Gosford Council pushes ahead with proposed contingency plans to protect homes and businesses from flooding.

The council believes the ocean will rise 40cm by 2050, and 90cm by the end of the century, meaning land owners will not be allowed to renovate their homes if they are within coastal “hazard lines”.

It is even considering stopping land owners from doing maintenance work on their beachside properties.

However, two other coastal councils have revised down their sea-level predictions.

“We threw those levels out — the stats we looked at didn’t bear out a sea-level rise of that magnitude,” Wyong mayor Doug Eaton said.

Eurobodalla Council on the south coast has introduced ­realistic sea-level rise predictions of just 23cm by 2050.

Businessman John Singleton has urged councils to do their own research. Picture: Adam Knott

Gosford mayor Lawrie McKinna says the restrictions are in place to protect people. Picture: Peter Clark

Businessman John Singleton, who has strong Central Coast connections, said councils should not be swayed by research saying sea levels will rise by close to 100cm.

“This is rubbish. Councils should not be deciding what it does now based on something that will probably not happen in 35 years’ time,” he said.

In its Open Coast and Broken Bay Beaches Coastal Zone Management Study, Gosford Council says it wants to protect “vulnerable” beaches from hazards that could “potentially impact property development”.

Gosford mayor Lawrie McKinna said flood-level predictions and hazard lines were in place to protect residents from potential inundation.

But angry property owners, some of whom have homes valued at up to $5 million, say the ban on building inside flood zones is based on old climate change information.

Lobby group Coastal Residents Inc is fighting Gosford Council’s predictions, which it has based on old NSW government guidelines and research that was released up to five years ago.

A Coastal Residents spokesman said council was ignoring the latest predictions from the international Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that suggest sea levels will rise by just 25cm by 2050.

The NSW State Liberal Government and their messenger, Gosford City Council, cannot continue the ongoing attack on the livelihood and the wellbeing of people of the NSW Central Coast who are affected by sea level rise projections. This draconian planning framework is now acting as a barrier to future climate change adaptation.

• The evening public meeting at North Avoca SLC on the 5th February, highlighted the lack of engagement by the NSW State Government and Gosford City Council with the Central Coast Community on coastal management issues. People were advised that there would be one to one questions and answers after the presentation. When residents objected and demanded an open forum, Council reluctantly accepted. Gosford Council representatives explained they are threatened by a State Government demand that the Coastal Zone Management Plan must be completed within a NSW State Government deadline or they face the loss of future funding for coastal hazard mitigation. This should not have occurred. Council should have made this a true Q&A type forum following the presentation rather than managing peoples responses. The NSW State Government should not place such demands on communities when they are quite legitimately working to achieve the best possible outcome.
  There were no State Government representatives present. This is not the way to get a successful outcome – an outcome that the public feels they have ownership of and that generates a range of ideas and concepts that have the potential to provide real solutions
• Gosford Council has failed to apply its own Sea Level Rise (SLR) Policy which requires a review within 12 months of new information becoming available from the IPCC or other widely accepted scientific sources. This has denied affected residents in Gosford communities the use of the latest IPCC advice to accurately determine the true extent of future coastal hazards. Shoalhaven and Eurobodalla Councils have now adopted much lower SLR benchmarks than Gosford Council – 23cms by 2050 as opposed to Gosford Councils 40cm by 2050. Hazard lines and flood levels for future risks could be reduced and provide some relief from increasingly draconian development controls that are now based on obsolete SLR benchmarks.
  Why are we spending a $million on two major studies and rushing to develop management plans knowing that more reliable and current scientific information is available? Why has the NSW State Government stepped away from this issue?
• As a consequence of a very recent (January 2015 decision)successful Land & Environment Court appeal by EM Dunford against a Gosford Council decision to reject development of a property at Wamberal, Gosford Council Officers have recommended the urgent introduction of harsher development constraints through a revision of the current Development Control Plan for beach frontage properties. This is inconsistent with Council’s claims at recent public information sessions and in the media that they are pro-development and that people will be able to continue developing beachfront properties. If Councillors adopt this recommendation it will sterilise future development for many landowners at Wamberal and effectively shuts down any suggestion that other beachfront communities can expect a fair go in the future. Why hasn’t Gosford Council provided this information at recent public forums to ensure that submissions by affected residents are fully informed?
• Gosford City Council, unlike all other NSW Councils, will only provide a combined Section 149 (2) &149 (5) Planning Certificate. The law only requires vendors to attach a S149 (2) Planning Certificate to the contract for the sale of property. Besides the additional cost of $80 that is pocketed by Gosford Council for a single printed page, the information on a S149 (5) related to coastal hazards is not meant to be attached to a contract for the sale of property because it does not include any information on how future hazards will be mitigated. Current hazards together with foreseeable hazards related to property, are mitigated through development controls that support adaptation and provide certainty for future buyers and owners. Section 149(5) notations do not provide such detailed advice and consequently are not to be attached to contracts for the sale of land. Gosford Council reaps around $600 000 annually by circumventing legislation that is designed to protect buyers and vendors and has been doing so for 10 years. The NSW State Government allows this situation to continue!
• The NSW State must step forward and take control of these issues. We cannot have the uncertainty of vastly different interpretations of law and SLR benchmarks determined by different local Councils along the same coastline. This does not create a vision of certainty and future prosperity and counters any attempt to revive a stalled economy – local, state and national. Local businesses, residents and especially our unemployed youth are the casualties of Councils co-operation with the NSW State Government in shifting all costs of Climate Change Adaptation onto those directly affected.
  Let’s not forget that it is the unmitigated use of fossil fuels that is claimed to drive a warming planet. We all benefit from the greater than $1 billion in coal royalties and $millions in GST from coal mining and related business activity which includes the $1.7billion yearly profit to the NSW State Government from coal generated power.
• Bushfires, major flood events and major storms are very effectively addressed by NSW emergency services. Home insurance includes a 30% compulsory state government levy that funds emergency services to the sum of around $1billion annually. Over $350million is spent yearly on Rural Fire Services. People facing the risk of coastal hazards willingly contribute to this massive fund through their home insurance and yet are denied those very services in the event of coastal erosion or coastal flooding events. The budget for NSW coastal management is around $3million yearly and is regularly underspent. This inequity must be addressed if we are to successfully adapt to climate change.

Coastal Residents Incorporated  –  Pat Aiken Secretary 0410 800 188