<< Peninsula New 14 November 2005 - The process behind the Ettalong Beach plan >>

The process behind the Ettalong Beach plan

I refer to the ill informed views of Mr. Michael Gillian, Margaret Lund and Shirley Hotchkiss regarding the process of the Ettalong Beach Plan of Management.

Because of the inaccuracies printed in Peninsula News, I now find it necessary to give a full account of that process so that your readers know the actual facts.

Long before these people moved to our area, the Ettalong Beach Heritage Committee was formed from a public meeting held at the Ettalong Beach Memorial Club in August 1995 where over 100 local people attended including Gosford councillors.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss ways of improving our town centre and our greatest asset, our town beach.

The Ettalong Beach Heritage Committee, of which I was the co-ordinator, went on to raise over $40,000 to commence Stage 1 of the upgrade works and completed footpath repaving, gardens, tree plantings and street furniture.

In 1997, we were successful in our application to the Federal Government for funds for the Picnic Parade roundabout where our committee contributed $15,000 towards the work.

The Minister for Roads at that time said that this was a first of its kind in Australia.

March 1998 was an opportune time for the Ettalong Beach Heritage Committee to consult once again with the community to ensure we were on track and so the Department of State and Regional Development under the Mainstreet Program facilitated a strategic planning workshop.

This was widely advertised and attended by local residents, local retailers, the Ettalong Beach Ratepayers Association and the Ettalong Beach Heritage Committee.

The results of this meeting formed the basis of the continued work under Gosford Council's Financial Strategy program.

Council set up CBD committees throughout the city and the Ettalong Beach CBD Committee had representatives from the Ettalong Ratepayers Association, the Ettalong Beach Heritage Committee, the Chamber of Commerce, local residents and retailers.

As most of the work in the main street was nearing completion, the Ettalong CBD Committee allocated the balance of their Financial Strategy funds to the upgrading of the town beach to incorporate a boardwalk from Picnic Parade to the Beach Street culvert.

The guidelines were clearly outlined by Council that the area the work was to be confined to the town beach from Picnic Parade to Beach Street.

No town centre funds were to be allocated to any other area.

During this period numerous studies and reports were completed relating to the Ettalong Beach foreshore including:

Patterson Britton & Partners 1999 Broken Bay Beaches Coastal Management Plan; * Patterson Britton & Partners 2000 Ettalong Beach Foreshore Management Study * Public Works Department 1992 Ettalong Beach Photogrammetric Analysis; * Sinclair Knight Merz 1998 Ettalong Beach Traffic & Parking Report; * The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce Peninsula Vision Economic Strategy; * Wales & Associates Urban Design Partners Ettalong Beach Centre Study 2000; * Wales & Associates Urban Design Partners Environmental Study & Planning Report 2000; * WBM Oceanis Australia Planning Workshop 1995 Coastal Management Study and Coastal Management Plan; In 2001, Gosford Council tendered for consultants to prepare the Ettalong Beach Foreshore Plan of Management which would bring all these studies together.

McGregor Partners were the successful company and as part of their brief, consulted with many community organizations such as Gosford Council, Ettalong Beach Heritage Committee; Ettalong Beach CBD Improvements Building Committee; Ettalong Beach War Memorial Club; Ettalong Beach Ratepayers Association; Department of Lands and Water Conservation (DLAWC); NSW Planning; Peninsula Chamber of Commerce; Fast Ships Pty Ltd, together numerous individual residents and shop owners.

Gosford Council prepared the media for the exhibition of the draft management plan.

It was advertised to be held in the Ettalong Beach Senior Citizen's Centre between the hours of 11am - 4pm as an exhibition (not a public meeting) with McGregor Partners, Gosford Council and a trained facilitator in attendance to answer any questions.

After the required exhibition period of 28 days, the Plan of Management was adopted by Council on May 27, 2003.

At that time, I was a Gosford Councillor and I requested the director to form a working group from the former CBD Committee under his direction so that the project could continue to the next stage being the concept and construction plans.

This is precisely what is happening now.

Once final plans are completed, they will be placed on public exhibition for public comment as required under the Local Government Act 1993.

Miss Hotchkiss claims that I am only interested in this project because I have "vested business interests".

This is not only insulting but completely untrue as I have been involved in this community project for the past 10 years giving my time and expertise freely both as a community representative and as a Gosford councillor.

I do not have any "vested business interests" in the Ettalong Beach CBD.

I am from four generations who have grown up here at Ettalong and have always been involved in community affairs on a voluntary basis as have many others who have been a part of the Ettalong Beach Heritage Committee.

Our town beach right now is an absolute disgrace.

It is not, and never has been, a sensitive dune area.

From the early days of settlement, it has always been a public beach right up until the mid-1980s when the Public Works Department planted out the foreshore line and provided sand trapping fencing to prevent sand blowing up over the road.

The problem has always been that the Council of the day never maintained the area or repaired the fencing.

Hence, the area has now overgrown to the point where the beach is unusable almost to the high tide mark in some parts.

The area is full of dead vegetation, rubbish and attracts anti-social behaviour.

It certainly does not perform the function it was intended for - public use.

I hope this précis gives your readers a more balanced and informed view of this community project.

It may have been a long and drawn out process and those involved have had to endure a small minority of negative and very critical people who have sought to stall this project.

One has to wonder why the detractors want to hold back our community, when we see so many other communities outside our region proudly striving to enhance and improve their natural environment and attributes.

Debra Wales, Umina