[Greens-Media] Media release: Protecting the public beach must take priority

[Kym Chapple]

Media release

​​​8 June 2016



Protecting the public beach must take priority



Plans for a seawall at Collaroy will potentially see local ratepayers paying to protect exposed multi-million dollar private properties at the expense of the much loved beach.



Greens MP and Planning Spokesperson David Shoebridge said:



“Coastal erosion is a serious issue and it requires coordinated planning between state and local Governments.



"Anyone seeing the damage caused by this storm must have sympathy for those property owners at risk from coastal erosion, but ultimately we must be guided in our response by the broader public interest.



“Before any seawall is constructed there must be an ironclad guarantee that it will not see the narrow interests of a handful of multi-million dollar properties advanced at the expense of this much loved public beach.



"If it can be proved that a seawall can protect the properties and not harm the beach, only then should construction go ahead and it must be primarily funded by the properties seeking the wall.



“We cannot allow a knee jerk reaction to deliver an unplanned sea wall that ends up ruining the public beach from Collaroy through to Narrabeen.



“The needs of a handful of property owners in vulnerable beach side locations can't be allowed to take precedence over the thousands of people who visit and enjoy the State's beautiful public beaches.



“Rather than a beach destroying ad-hoc system of seawalls, we need sensible planning laws that restrict coastal developments like those in Collaroy.



“The lesson here is not that ratepayers should be slugged to protect poorly positioned waterfront properties, but that bad planning decisions can have very real and immediate consequences.



“Climate change is going to have a real impact on our coast in decades to come, and we cannot set a precedent where the public continues to pay to defend poorly positioned properties that never should have been built in the first place,” Mr Shoebridge said.



Media contact: 9230 3030



Kym Chapple

Policy | Communications | Legislation

Office of Greens MP David Shoebridge

P: (02) 9230 3030|M: 0433 680 244

SIGN UP TO STAY IN TOUCH at davidshoebridge.org.au/sign-up<http://davidshoebridge.org.au/take-action/sign-up/>

NSW Parliament House, Macquarie Street Sydney NSW, 2000 Australia



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