More than 60 local residents attended a ‘Save Our Beach’ protest convened by Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, Liberal Member for Terrigal Mr Adam Crouch, and Liberal councilors Cr Jilly Pilon and Cr Gale Collins last week.
Mr Crouch said that the protest sent a clear message to the Central Coast Council that the community demands action. The councilors repeated their call for the council to take responsibility for the situation at Ettalong Channel.
Mr Crouch said that the council has avoided responsibility and delayed any progress on this issue for far too long.
“I call on the Labor and independent alliance of councilors to stop obfuscating and avoiding this issue, and start to work together to achieve a positive outcome, ” Mr Crouch said.
“ Since 2011, funding has been available through the Rescuing Our Waterways program, which consists of a co-fund arrangement between local Councils and the State.”
Cr Pilon also added that the need for dredging to prevent silting in the Ettalong Channel was not a new problem: “ Indeed, as far back as 2009, a management study was written by an independent engineering consultancy and provided to council with options to fix this ongoing problem.”
“I have raised this issue with my council colleagues on multiple occasions already, and I will continue to advocate for our community at every possible opportunity ,” concluded Cr Pilon.