Great Lakes Council is seeking community feedback on its latest efforts to manage the risks to the Great Lakes coastline from erosion and wave over wash during storms now and in the future.

The draft Great Lakes Coastal Zone Management Plan: Management Options Study outlines practical options to address the risks from coastal hazards to the beach, and land and assets behind the beach.

The Study also includes options to provide for community use and ecological health along the coast.

The Management Options Study will be on exhibition for comment from Monday 15 December until Friday 6 February 2015.

The draft Study will be available online throughout this period on the Council’s website or via hardcopy at Great Lakes Council Administration Offices, Breese Parade, Forster.

The beaches between Black Head and Hawks Nest are included in this Plan, including Forster Main, One Mile, Elizabeth, Blueys, Boomerang and the beaches of Seal Rocks.

Jimmys Beach is excluded from this Plan because a separate Plan is currently in progress.

Great Lakes Council is preparing its Coastal Zone Management Plan for Great Lakes with assistance from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).

The Plan follows on from earlier studies that defined the coastal hazards on the Great Lakes coast, such as erosion of the beach and inundation of creeks by the ocean during storms.

These hazards are very likely to become worse in the future.

Council will hold community drop-in sessions to allow those interested to learn more about options to manage the risks to the Great Lakes coast and provide comment.

The dates for sessions are:

6pm Tuesday 20 January 2015, Seal Rocks Common, Kinka Road, Seal Rocks.

6pm Wednesday 21 January 2015, Great Lakes Council Administration Offices, Breese Parade, Forster.

6pm Thursday 22 January 2015, Pacific Palms Community Centre, The Lakes Way, Elizabeth Beach.

To assist the community in making comment upon the options outlined in the draft Study, an online survey is available on Council’s website or visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/GreatLakesCoastalOptionsSurvey.