Wharf Road Coastal Zone Management Plan

The Wharf Road Coastal Zone Management Plan (the plan) outlines Council's management aims, objectives, and actions to protect and enhance the Wharf Road beach and foreshore area at Batemans Bay.

Hazard assessments identified the Wharf Road east area is a high-hazard zone due to coastal inundation and shoreline erosion. The main aim of the plan is to ensure the area's future management is compatible with current and future hazard levels.

The Minister for the Environment certified the plan on 4 June 2018.

Location of the plan area

The plan applies to the beach and foreshore area of Wharf Road, Batemans Bay. It extends from south-east of the Big 4 Easts Riverside Holiday Park to about 450 metres downstream of the Princes Highway bridge over the Clyde River.

The back beach area at Wharf Road is low-lying and subject to coastal inundation and erosion hazards. The NSW Government identified this part of Batemans Bay as a coastal erosion hotspot requiring a coastal zone management plan and emergency action sub-plan.

Read our plans and program

Before we developed the plan, our consultants prepared a coastal hazard assessment and hazard management plan for Wharf Road. This management plan studied a range of options to minimise coastal erosion at Wharf Road, Batemans Bay:

Eurobodalla Open Coast Coastal Management Program

The Eurobodalla Open Coast Coastal Management Program helps to ensure we manage and develop our coast in a way that protects natural features and supports ongoing growth. The program incorporates the Wharf Road Coastal Hazard Assessment and Hazard Management Plan and the Wharf Road Coastal Zone Management Plan.

Strategies

We implemented these management strategies in response to the plan:

Council adopted the draft Emergency Action Subplan for the Wharf Road coastal erosion hotspot on 24 July 2012. Our latest plan, the Eurobodalla Open Coast Coastal Zone Emergency Action Subplan, incorporates this subplan:

Council zoned the plan area to 'Zone C2 - Environmental Conservation' under the Eurobodalla Local Environmental Plan 2012 in line with recommendations. We also applied the zone to wetlands, littoral rainforests, and some foreshore areas across Eurobodalla. This strategy aimed to avoid current and future risk by preventing development unsuited to a high-hazard coastal area.

Community engagement

We have engaged with the community about their use of the Wharf Road area since we prepared an estuary management study and plan for the Batemans Bay and Clyde River Estuary in 2004. We've also been involved in other engagement activities since then:

  • Council received a development proposal for residential units at Wharf Road east. Community members lodged various submissions in response to the development. These submissions provided us with the opportunity to examine how our community values the Wharf Road area.
  • Consultants, BMT WBM Pty Ltd, developed the Wharf Road Coastal Hazard Assessment and Hazard Management Plan in February 2009. Council held a public information meeting in Batemans Bay about the plan. We received five submissions and one petition.
  • Council placed the Emergency Action Subplan for the Wharf Road coastal erosion hotspot on public exhibition for 28 days in June 2012. We received one submission during the exhibition period.
  • Council placed the draft plan on public exhibition for 21 days in early 2017. We considered all submissions before we sent the plan to the Minister to certify.

Contact us

For more information, contact Council's Coastal Management Planner, Cameron Whiting: