PLANS to dredge the entrance to Currambene Creek have divided the community but Shoalhaven City Council is urging residents to hold off on criticism until environmental studies are complete.
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Jervis Bay Regional Alliance president Leslie Lockwood said her message was clear and simple, “more studies and more consultation please. Do this properly”.
“I went to the recent meeting at Huskisson and was a bit bemused by the whole process.
“I had been to a meeting earlier in the year relating to some dredging near the pontoons with a vague mention of more dredging.
“Then we heard nothing more until this recent meeting.”
She said it was the lack of consultation that upset most people about the exercise.
“While I don’t expect council to run around telling us what’s going on, I didn’t even find out about it through our Community Consultative Body.
“I thought the rock part was fairly well glossed over too,” she said.
“They were talking about dredging sand and then we were told they were taking core samples to determine how they were going to ‘lower’ the rock.
“When we suggested this was being done in too much haste there was a suggestion a review of environmental factors had to be completed in March.
“It was indicated we might be involved again at that time.”
Ms Lockwood said the group would be looking for any opportunity to be involved in the decision.
Shoalhaven City Council’s natural resources and floodplain manager Isabelle Ghetti encouraged people to look at the plans and documentation before they formed an opinion.
“We are looking at a review of environmental factors for all of the dredging in the Shoalhaven,” she said.
She said the proposal included removing some rock and would result in the depth being 1.6m below the lowest tide.
“The draft of this will go on public exhibition in March or April next year.”
She said there were a number of state government agencies that would be consulted as part of the project.
“Some of them have to give consent, including Jervis Bay Marine Park,” she said.