Pittwater Life July 2024 Issue

News
‘Unchecked’ lagoon erosion fears
Precious public land on the
southern edge of Narrabeen
Lagoon is eroding at a rate of
almost one metre a year, according
to residents.
They are concerned Northern
Beaches Council (NBC) has
no remediation plan for the
space and that it will disappear
altogether, robbing community
amenity while also threatening
local homes.
The public land, opposite
Lakeside Holiday Park and
adjacent to the Ocean Street
bridge, forms a bank next
to the narrow main channel
through which huge volumes
of water are funnelled when
the lagoon is open. Locals say
boat wake is also an issue.
Barry Glasgow, who has lived
next to the shrinking strip
for 30-plus years, remembers
when it was wide enough for
a 20-metre cricket pitch with
room for a bowler’s run-up.
Now he says the land is two,
maybe three metres wide at its
broadest point.
“I’d like to see it stabilised,
don’t let it go any further,” he
says.
Mike Fitzgerald is leading the
lobby to save the land but says
he has been getting nowhere
with Council.
“I just hate watching that
land just drop away. Week after
week you’ll see another chunk
has fallen in, all of a sudden
the grass is bent, drooping
down, hanging over the edge
into the water, which means
there’s another half a metre
gone,’ says Mr Fitzgerald.
“It’s just a lovely piece of
land that’s soon going to end
up totally gone and it’s just a
damn shame… it’s wrong.
“We’ve been here seven years
and every year I see all these
families and kids using that
land, having family time and
pleasure, especially on Australia
Day, Easter and Christmas.
“They’ve got their tents there
and it’s just really nice. It’s a
beautiful piece of taxpayer’s
land disappearing – and noone’s
doing anything about it.”
He and other residents,
including Glasgow and neighbour
Jeff Hoffman, want to
see the bank stabilised with a
rock barrier, which has been
actioned on the other side of
the Ocean Street bridge.
In a bid to make that happen,
Mr Fitzgerald said he met with
NBC Capital Works Project Manager
Richard Parry last year,
and recently corresponded with
Jodie Crawford, Manager, Coast
and Catchments for Council.
Ms Crawford said bank
remediation work had been undertaken
in the Lagoon Street
reserve (see pic below) which
connects with the eroding
stretch of bank.
“There also appears to be
evidence of seawalls along
property and foreshore
boundaries in historical aerial
photography of the area,” she
wrote in May.
STABILISED: New seawall
on the other side of the
Ocean Street bridge.
MATTER OF TIME:
Concerned residents
Mike Fitzgerald, Barry
Glasgow and Jeff Hoffman
(L-R) next to part
of the eroding bank at
Narrabeen Lagoon.
“Construction of further
hard structural bank protection
works in this reserve are
not planned at this time.”
She wrote Council would
investigate the feasibility of a
sand nourishment and plant
stabilisation program during
the lagoon entrance clearance
project planned for 2025.
But Mr Fitzgerald says both
the approach and potential
timing are not good enough.
“Sand nourishment is a band
aid where this needs an operation,”
he responded.
“It’s a very sad plight and
so disturbing to see such a
beautiful piece of property
disappearing when it could be
stopped.” – Martin Kelly
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PHOTOS: Martin Kelly
6 JULY 2024
The Local Voice Since 1991