For years, we have watched our beaches, lakes and waterways suffer from mismanagement, neglect, and politics. We know coastal management decisions are often made behind closed doors with little transparency, accountability or genuine public consultation.

This petition calls on the NSW Government to immediately investigate systemic coastal mismanagement by Central Coast Council over the last five years, with particular focus on:

• The ongoing Wamberal seawall saga
• The abandonment of dredging and flood mitigation at Tuggerah Lakes
• Council’s failure to complete mandatory Coastal Management Programs (CMPs) since 2018
• Council’s use of public funds to support private coastal DAs
• The exclusion of the community from meaningful coastal decision-making.

Wamberal Beach

Millions of dollars of ratepayer and taxpayer funds have already been spent on emergency works and a private vertical seawall Development Application at Wamberal Beach, against expert advice, against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of the community, and against the wishes of the largest single beachfront landowner, NSW Government. The seawall was pushed by Council without genuine consultation, long-term planning, or any clear funding commitment.

Five years on, the proposed seawall remains uncosted, unapproved and unlikely. The community is now being asked to support “emergency declarations” to rush through more ad hoc beach rock works. This is not strategic coastal management; it is a reaction to years of poor planning and political interference, all of which harms the beach and frustrates the community.

Tuggerah Lakes/ The Entrance North Beach 

At Tuggerah Lakes, Council has allowed vital dredging to stop, despite no formal resolution to do so. The lakes are flooding, shorelines are eroding, and the foreshore at The Entrance North is being lost. Meanwhile, expert advice continues to be ignored and interim measures, when they happen at all, are inconsistent and short-sighted.

No CMPs, no strategy

Coastal Management Programs (CMPs) are required by law and are critical for securing funding and setting out a long-term strategy. Yet not one CMP has been completed by Council since the requirement began in 2018. The Tuggerah Lakes CMP won’t be finalised until 2027, and the Open Coast CMP, covering Wamberal Beach and The Entrance North Beach, won’t even be exhibited until late 2025. Without these plans, there is no roadmap, no accountability, and no access to long-term NSW Government funding.

Enough is enough

This isn’t just about Wamberal Beach or Tuggerah Lakes, it’s about our entire Coast: our beaches, our lagoons, our way of life.

We call on the NSW Government and the Minister for Local Government to:

• Initiate an urgent investigation into Central Coast Council’s coastal management
• Review how the proposed Wamberal Beach seawall was contrived, progressed to DA, publicly subsidised and put up for assessment
• Investigate Council’s failure to complete CMPs and the impacts 
• Ensure public resources are being directed toward public coastal outcomes
• Rebuild transparency, accountability, consultation and trust in how our coast is managed by Council.

We need action, not more excuses. We need effective coastal management instead of ongoing crisis management. Please sign and share this petition to help restore integrity to coastal planning on the Central Coast.

If you have further information that should be shared with the Minister, please email me at corinne.lamont@coastvision.net.

This petition and views expressed are my own and not those of Central Coast Council.

Kind regards,

Cr Corinne Lamont