New South Wales

Hunter Chapter

Given the financial climate, maintenance of heritage items can be a sensitive issue when deciding who funds these worthwhile projects.

In the case of the Catherine Hill Bay  jetty – putting a price on a structure for its iconic and heritage elements can be a challenging. As with many heritage structures, calls for relevant reuse have never been more appropriate.

The role the jetty plays is functional, even long after the coal ships ceased their activities; it continues to support an established aquatic habitat. The site is also popular for divers and the surfing culture is certainly entrenched.  The second role that the structure plays which may be less understood is, in terms of its structural influence to the shore hydrology and beach profile

Calls to remove the structure in its entirety require in depth investigation and modeling. The question is how to minimise the costs of recurrent maintenance whilst maintaining current values?

Currently the jetty is not accessible to the public and is limited in providing any benefit in terms of an elevated platform when compared to the maintenance costs.

One solution may be in the removal the top decking, as a possible measure to reduce maintenance. The remnant piles could still provide the physical reminder of the heritage while continuing to support the surrounding eco-system
The community benefit of maintaining the current state of the structure is difficult to justify, however remodeling the site would allow a percentage of these funds to be spent on more functional community facilities. A ‘half-removal’ compromise perhaps? Catherine Hill Bay and the Hunter deserve more in-depth consideration, than what’s provided in current proposals. Support the Surfrider Foundation to contributing to a more positive and sustainable plan.

Chris Tola, Representative for Hunter/Newcastle

Sydney’s Northern Beaches Chapter

Enjoying a busy start to the year with an emphasis on fundraising through a chapter T-shirt and plans for an event later in the year. Two sub- committees are in place and working hard to ensure the success of both ventures that are the first steps in what we expect to be long-term recurring income streams to help our local campaigns and indeed support the National office.

Campaign emphasis is on clean water and sand nourishment issues. Sewage overflows from the Warriewood Treatment Plant and the past capacity Dee Why sub main are cause for great concern as we hurtle towards the second decade of the 21st Century! We are working with Sydney Water and local government to rectify this through firstly reducing frequency of overflow events with a long-term aim of eliminating them completely.

Congratulations to Dave and Foulsh for their epic ride from Cronulla to PERTH! raising funds for Surfrider along the way. As we are the only operating Chapter in Sydney we were happy to help co-ordinate this epic journey. .  We encourage all reading this if they know of members or ‘should be members ‘ in Sydney’s South or East to consider setting up a Chapter in their local area – we are happy to aid in this development!

Oceans Initiative was marked by a clean-up of Turrimetta beach resulting in a big haul of rubbish. More regular clean-ups are planned.

We are very much looking forward to the visit from US Surfrider Foundation’s CEO, Jim Moriarty, for our June meeting and international Surfing Day on June 20.

Brendan Donohoe, President Northern Beaches Chapter

Woollongong/South Coast Chapter

Killalea Proposal Declared State Significant:

Killalea State Park is renowned as one of the last remaining pristine coastal strips in Shellharbour, south of Wollongong. It is home to two amazing surf spots, ‘The Farm’ and ‘Mystics’ both of which are desired just as much as for the quality waves as the scenery and the classic surfing ‘aura’ of the beaches. However, the State Park is the subject to a “development agreement” between Killalea Coastal Investments and the Killalea State Park Trust for the purpose of lodging a development application and if approved, a lease would be granted for 52 years.

In April 2008 the proposed development of 106 accommodation lodges in Killalea State Park has been declared to be of State Significance. Consequently, the decision on whether to approve the development is in the hands of Minister for Planning Kristina Keneally and not the local council, Shellharbour Council (which is currently under administration). This is in accordance with Part 3A of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act in which projects deemed State Significant are left to the discretion of the Minister for Planning, thereby overruling the conventional planning consent process. The previous Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, introduced this. The current minister visited the site on the 16th of April and was said to be impressed with the beauty of the state park – as we all are!

There will be public hearings after the developers lodge the preliminary assessment. Meanwhile the developers of the project Babcock & Brown have also gone into voluntary administration (there share prices have dwindled in the past 18 months). There are a number of really committed people working against this development. If you would like more information or want to get involved or sign a petition please see www.savekillalea.com.au.

Killalea State Park in Shellharbour will be dedicated as surfing reserve during a ceremony on the Saturday the 6th of June at 11.00am at the lookout over the ‘Farm’. All are welcome. Local prominent surfer Chris Homer, head of the steering committee, established this proposal. This gives Killalea similar status to the likes of Bells Beach and Angourie. One visit and it’s easy to see why.

Meanwhile, access to the break ‘Oilies’ just south of Coniston Beach Wollongong remains open thanks to successful negotiation between the Port Kembla Port Corporation, the Surfrider Foundation and the ‘Save Oilies’ crew. However, Surfrider is keeping a close eye on the situation as the government recently announced bringing forward funding for significant infrastructure projects. This could see the expansion of the Port through re-alignment of the north break wall at Port Kembla, which could have serious repercussions for the iconic break.

Finally we would also like to advertise our plans for a surf culture day to celebrate International Surfing Day on the 20th of June. The event will be held at Corrimal Surf Club and will include stalls featuring surf retailers, local board shapers/builders, a surf school, swell forecasting workshop, surf photography & art and much more. A new locally produced surf movie followed by some surf bands in the evening with the line up looking pretty exciting – stay tuned on the surfrider website for more details and a flyer which will be distributed shortly.

Ian Jarman and Tristan Devitt, Wollongong/South Coast Reps