Save Lake Cathie

Lake Cathie residents are absolutely devastated by a threat from the authorities that may force them to demolish their homes and walk away with NO compensation.

This is their story in brief:

In 2007 Port Macquarie Hastings Council and the NSW Government Department of Environment and Climate Change commissioned a specialist coastal engineering company ‘SMEC” to undertake a study into the beach erosion at Lake Cathie, a small coastal community located 17 km south of Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid North Coast. This final Draft Coastline Management Study has taken 2 years to complete and was released on the 22nd July 2009.

This 150 page report has provided the Port Macquarie Hastings Council and the NSW Government with 13 options on how to deal with the coastal erosion problems in Lake Cathie.  These options range from building Sea Walls, Artificial Reefs, Groynes, Revetments and even dredging Lake Cathie and distributing the sand along the eroding beach ( beach nourishment). With so many engineering options available to protect this part of the coastline, it came as a complete surprise to the Lake Cathie community when the Study revealed that the number one option that the NSW Government and Port Macquarie Hastings Council were considering to undertake was a Reactive Management Strategy.

A Reactive Management Strategy involves the Council removing water, sewerage, electrical and telecommunication services from the street. Homeowners are asked to demolish their homes, and return the land to its initial state.  Properties are not purchased by Council or the NSW Government and homeowners effectively have to walk away from their homes with NO compensation. The land then becomes Council property.  The two streets affected by this Study are Illaroo Road and Chepana Street.