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CL26.295 Notice of Motion – Ongoing Maintenance of Vegetation and Dune Care Action at Collingwood Beach

You are currently viewing CL26.295 Notice of Motion – Ongoing Maintenance of Vegetation and Dune Care Action at Collingwood Beach

The Vincentia Community Forum opposes Motion CL26.295 and supports the recommendation of Council’s professional staff and CEO. At a time of significant financial pressures and competing priorities, we believe Council should be guided by evidence-based coastal management, contemporary coastal science and the certified CMP, rather than revisiting matters that have already been extensively considered through technical assessment, community consultation and statutory approval processes. We encourage community members to read the CEO’s assessment in full below.

CL26.295 Notice of Motion – Ongoing Maintenance of Vegetation and Dune Care Action at Collingwood Beach

Note to CL26.295 by Shoalhaven City Council CEO

The motion seeks outcomes that are already being delivered through the certified Shoalhaven Open Coast and Jervis Bay Coastal Management Program (CMP), while simultaneously proposing actions that would directly undermine the objectives of protecting the environmental values and the public and private infrastructure adjacent to the beach. The Motion presents no new technical evidence, identifies no deficiency in the CMP, and provides no strategic justification for revisiting matters that have already been extensively considered through Council reports, community consultation, technical assessment and statutory certification processes.

The CMP was adopted by Council, certified by the NSW Government and gazetted under the Coastal Management Act 2016. It is now the statutory framework for managing vegetation, dune systems, coastal hazards, public access and environmental values across the Shoalhaven coastline, including Collingwood Beach. Previous plans and resolutions have been superseded by this framework.

The Motion effectively asks Council to disregard a recently certified coastal management framework and recommence debate on issues that have already been resolved. Doing so would divert resources from implementation of existing priorities, create uncertainty around current projects, and potentially jeopardise grant-funded coastal management works already underway.

The CMP was specifically designed to balance environmental protection, public access, community use, ecological outcomes and coastal hazard management across the entire coastline.

Further, reopening the CMP to implement significant change in the strategic approach would require:

  • Significant officer resources;
  • Additional technical studies;
  • Extensive community consultation;
  • Further Council consideration;
  • State Government review and approval;
  • At a cost that could foreseeably extend into several hundred thousand dollars of funding that is not currently allocated.

Council has continued to undertake vegetation management, weed control, dune stabilisation, revegetation, fencing, beach access maintenance and sand nourishment works at Collingwood Beach. More than $115,000 in grant-funded works have already been delivered and further works remain programmed through existing coastal management programs.

The proposal promotes reduction of dune vegetation while claiming to improve dune stability. These two positions are fundamentally incompatible. Native dune vegetation is one of the primary mechanisms by which dunes capture sand, build volume and resist erosion.

Removing or substantially reducing vegetation, as proposed in this motion, would not increase dune resilience. It would increase exposure of the dunes to erosion, sand loss and storm damage. The existing vegetation provides dune stability, habitat values and erosion protection, consistent with contemporary coastal science which recognises vegetation as a critical contributor to coastal resilience.

Since 2021 Council has:

  • Adopted the Collingwood Beach Action Plan;
  • Undertaken ongoing management works;
  • Delivered grant-funded restoration works;
  • Prepared and certified the Coastal Management Program;
  • Undertaken extensive consultation;
  • Responded to multiple councillor requests;
  • Prepared reports;
  • Responded to community representations; and
  • Previously considered substantially the same matters through Notice of Motion CL25.295.

Item CL26.295 will be heard at the Shoalhaven City Council Ordinary Meeting on 27 October 2026. Community members who wish to express their concerns are encouraged to make a submission to Council.