Local government minister Shelley Hancock will not extend the June 30 deadline for City of Newcastle to submit its coastal management plan despite concerns there will not be enough time to engage in meaningful community consultation with the Stockton community.
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Councillors expressed concern on Tuesday night that under the new deadline the project will need to be completed within the next seven weeks before it is placed on public exhibition for a mandatory 28 days.
That would be allow two weeks for amendments based on feedback before the plan is due to be submitted to the government.
The council had been aiming to complete the project by the end of this year, 12 months before the previous government deadline of December 2021.
Community consultation was due to take place in coming months.
However, Ms Hancock brought the deadline forward to June 30 on Sunday in response to community concerns about the Stockton erosion crisis.
"Now under section 13 of the Coastal Management Act 2016, I have directed Council to expedite its preparation, given the amount of community concern and interest in Stockton Beach and to help ensure a long-term management plan is finalised as quickly as possible," she said in a statement.
Ms Hancock promised to provide the council with extra resources to help achieve the new deadline.
But Tuesday's council meeting heard the extra resources would not assist with the consultation process.
A spokesman for Ms Hancock disputed the claim.
"The community's call for urgent action to address erosion at Stockton has been heard which is why the Minister directed Council to expedite the completion of its coastal management plan," he said.
"Department of Planning, Industry and Environmentwill continue to work with council as it develops its program including ensuring adequate community consultation."
Greens councillor John MacKenzie expressed concern that other aspects of the plan would also be severely compromised.
"When that plan comes out we will not have any response from the state government as to whether or not we can undertake offshore sand sourcing. We won't have any indication of the bathymetric (movement of sand across the sea floor) studies to determine if there is any offshore infrastructure that can retain any sand we put in place," he said.
"It also means we won't have the sand sourcing study done. All of the solutions that will be available to us in that coastal management plan have been severely curtailed by this artificial deadline that has been placed on us."
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