THE political row between Central Coast Council and the state government over The Entrance channel has flared again - this time over the time being taken to resume sand dredging.
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Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Adam Crouch (Liberal), on Tuesday called on the council to immediately begin dredging in the channel.
He said the state government had provided the council with $600,000 towards the cost of the dredging, but a month later the work still hadn't started.
Recent flooding around Tuggerah Lakes had showed that thousands of people relied on the council to protect their homes, he said.
Central Coast mayor Lisa Matthews (Labor) responded today, accusing Mr Crouch of playing politics.
"We waited five months for the NSW Government to approve a funding grant to support the Central Coast Council's dredging program, an announcement that was made at the tail end of the floods," Cr Matthews said.
"To expect within four weeks of that announcement for dredging of The Entrance channel to occur is simply reckless. The necessary surveys need to occur, and these are key phases of the project acknowledged by the NSW Government as part of the approval of the grant."
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Mr Crouch said the council had prior knowledge that Minister for Water, Melinda Pavey, was to announce on February 18 that $600,000 would be provided by the government towards a project that would see 60,000 cubic metres of sand dredged from The Entrance channel.
"In advance of this announcement I contacted council staff and was advised that dredging work could commence very quickly," Mr Crouch said.
"A month has passed since the minister provided $600,000 but still no dredging work has occurred."
Cr Matthews was happy to comment further on the topic of untimely delays.
"The state government on February 20, 2019, made an election commitment of $200,000 to establish an expert panel to look at the Tuggerah Lakes waterway and flow," she said.
"More than 12 months on and we are still waiting for that expert panel to be established. Mr Crouch's call for dredging within four weeks of an announcement is short sightedness to what has been a long-term problem for the Central Coast community."
Mr Crouch said the Central Coast community expected the dredging work to start immediately.
"I have written to the Labor mayor today and expressed the NSW Government's disappointment," Mr Crouch said.
"On her watch, council has talked about action without actually taking any. It has been about 18 months since The Entrance channel was last dredged."
Council had received $200,000 in 2015, $225,000 in 2018, and $600,000 in 2020 through the state government's Rescuing Our Waterways program to dredge The Entrance channel, he said.
Council stopped dredging in December, 2018, when it received a notice from the state's Environment Protection Agency (EPA) to stop the discharge of sediment waters at the North Entrance Beach discharge point. The EPA then issued the council an official caution over an alleged breach of the council's licence conditions for dredging, a claim the council disputed.
Cr Matthews said the council had proceeded in a responsible and timely manner in regard to the upcoming dredging program.
"The knock-on effects of haphazardly dredging the channel can have unforeseen consequences to other areas," she said.
"Work on the dredging program is well under way."
In the past four weeks the council had completed an aerial survey of the sand spit and coastline using drone and laser technology, and an underwater survey of the channel bed.
"As Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast, Mr Crouch should be focused on working with the state government to establish the expert panel, if he's truly committed to fixing this issue," Cr Matthews said.
"We want to deliver the best outcomes for the whole of the community without the politics, and this requires expertise, strategic thinking and long-term planning. As a state asset we want to continue to work closely with the state government on a long-term solution."
