Wyong Council has commenced the preparation of a new Coastline Management Plan for Wyong Shire. Community input and feedback are welcome throughout the project and are vital to its success. This web page explains the scope of the project and what to expect over the next 18 months as the Study and Plan evolve.

What’s involved? Specialist coastal process and geotechnical studies to define the “Coastal Hazard Zone” for 50 year and 100 year planning periods. New maps of coastal hazards and hazard zones for Wyong’s coast will be prepared and made available for comment. Analysis of information about the full range of coastline management issues. Natural and cultural features, environmental impacts and impacts on community safety and amenity will be considered. Preparation of feasible management options and evaluating which options offer the best opportunities for the coast as a whole. The outcome will be a Plan that provides both strategic direction and step by step guidance about key actions to achieve the community’s goals for Wyong’s coastline.

How can you participate?

Photos, stories or other information about the coast will all help to build up a picture of what is important, and your comments will help to determine the types of management approaches that will be acceptable. You can contribute your suggestions at any time during the project. Please go to the contact page if you have any information you wish to share, to assist the project team to communicate effectively with you or your group.

As project reports are completed they will be placed on this special project web site for viewing and downloading. Further information brochures will be available both in hard copy and on the project web site.

The project team will seek your comments and feedback about suggested management options and activities at community meetings and workshops as the project progresses.

The project is expected to take about 18 months altogether, with the results of the hazard definition studies being available from early July 2004, and exhibition of a draft Management Plan in mid 2005.

Why Prepare a Coastline Management Plan?

Dynamic coastal environments are important parts of the landscape for most Australians. About one quarter of the population of Wyong Shire lives along the narrow corridor east of the Tuggerah Lakes. However, the coastline also attracts thousands of visitors – from other parts of Wyong Shire, from neighbouring Council areas and from further afield. The Central Coast has been a favourite recreation and holiday destination for people from Sydney for generations. The population of Wyong Shire continues to have one of the fastest growth rates in NSW.

High recreational usage and rapid population growth place pressure on sensitive coastal landscapes. Coastal processes such as storm wave erosion of beaches and dunes and landslip on cliffs or bluffs have the potential to impact on community safety and enjoyment, highlighting the importance of community participation in the preparation of the Coastline Management Plan. The planning process helps Council and the community to understand:

• Which locations have special features that warrant conservation.
• How the coastline changes over time.
• Options for managing places that are susceptible to coastal erosion, by waves or cliff collapse.
• What’s needed to provide safe access and safe recreation spaces for local people and visitors, and where user facilities should be placed to assist everyone to enjoy the coastal environment.
• Where special protection should be provided for coastal community infrastructure such as surf clubs.
• What emergency procedures need to be in place to respond to major storms or other events.
• How to minimise urban development impacts on the coast, such as weed infestation, stormwater drains, land clearing, car parks and other structures on dunes.
• The costs of providing what the community wants for the coast, and where state and local government should spend their money.

From Catho to Crackneck – what’s in the study area?

Wyong Council has approximately 35 km of coastline, extending from Catherine Hill Bay to Crackneck Point at Bateau Bay. Nearly half of the coast is dominated by long sandy beaches – Birdie Beach and Tuggerah Beach, but there are also numerous small bays, high sandstone cliffs and rocky bluffs adding diversity to the landscape.

Coastline Management Plans deal with the management of the immediate coastal fringe – the interface between coastal processes and the land. For Wyong this includes:

• the first street parallel to the ocean or the extent of the 100 year coastal hazard zone (which ever is the greater) for urban areas and public reserves;
• foredunes and hind dunes; and
• areas that are identified as having a high probability of instability along cliffs and bluffs.

Most of the residential development along Wyong’s coast is around the smaller bay beaches and bluffs, such as Bateau Bay, Toowoon Bay, Noraville and The Entrance. These areas are the main focus of the current project, together with development on the dunes behind some sections of the long sandy beaches.

Around these core areas of coastal process influence is an area which can affect the environmental quality of the coastline. This will include stormwater catchments, and other urban areas from which local people would visit the beaches, headlands and rock platforms. Land managed by National Parks & Wildlife Service (now part of Department of Environment and Conservation) is also part of the context area.

This project is not about Tuggerah Lakes. The management of the lakes and the lake entrance is being addressed through a separate but related process.