Illaroo Road home owner Stephen Hunt says the decision does little to help them protect their homes from the sea because Illaroo Rd itself stands between homes and the beach.

“I think from Lake Cathie’s point of view it’s irrelevant. Surely they don’t expect residents to pay to protect the coastline when there’s a public road in front of them,” Mr Hunt said.

Mr Hunt feels Lake Cathie is a separate case which needs special consideration.

“They’ve lumped Lake Cathie with all the other hot spots around the country but we don’t fit into the framework.”

Local campaigner and Lake Cathie resident Leslie Williams says the new legislation just adds another layer of bureaucracy.

“The state government and the local council should be providing funding to find practical solutions,” she said. “The real issue at Lake Cathie is the maintenance of local infrastructure.”

Local progress association and landcare group president Rob Tate agrees saying Port Macquarie-Hastings Council has failed to fix problems of stormwater drains and public access to the beach.

“The council’s first priority should be the stormwater drains which are clearly causing a lot of the erosion,” he said. “They’ve got to address the problem of people walking all over the sand dunes. The they need to put up a fence and block the informal access to the beach.”

Mr Hunt points out the sand dunes are crumbling into the sea. He believes they are unstable partly due to the bitou bush which was binding the foredunes together was cleared by council.

The sensitive and emotive issue of how best to deal with the ever encroaching sea at Lake Cathie is currently being looked at by Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

Councils Development and Environmental Services Director Matt Rogers also says the proposed reforms won’t apply in Illaroo Road.

“Council has been proactive at Lake Cathie in identifying the need for plans to deal with this issue,” he said. “The erosion is occurring on public land that is at this stage threatening the road.”

While the council has welcomed the State Government’s decision to look at reforms in the way coastal erosion is handled, Mr Rogers is disappointed there was not more consultation by the state government with council.

“I would have thought that working with coastal councils on developing a policy would have been a positive step forward,” he said.

Council is hoping to make a final decision on the Lake Cathie Coastline Management Plan by the end of December.