President of Revive Lake Cathie Kate Aston said around 20 logs were washed away during last Wednesday’s storm.

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Port Macquarie-Hastings Council staff responded quickly and retrieved the logs from the beach and the creek, however Ms Aston said residents “need to be aware” that the current forecast rain could create further problems.

“It’s just nature doing nature’s thing,” she told News Of The Area.

“The sand has come around and is now pooling at the front of the creek. That’s how the current runs.

“The northern side is still open [and] the rest of the work seems to be holding.”

The storms have coincided with the completion of remediation works on Bundella Avenue, which runs along Cathie Creek before turning into Illaroo Road.

Over a period of five months, contractors from the NSW Soil Conservation Service removed 1224 tonnes of contaminated waste from beneath the embankment.

“We were notified there had been potentially hazardous building material dumped decades earlier along the embankment of Bundella Avenue that had become exposed from coastal processes,” PMHC Acting Environment and Sustainability Manager Ben Foster said.

Tests confirmed the material contained asbestos.

As it was on part Crown and part Council owned land, the project was jointly funded and managed by the State Government and Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

Once removed, the area was backfilled with marine sand from the berm at the entrance to Cathie Creek.

The road verge was stabilised and around 2000 natives were planted, with another 2000 plants to come.

Residents and visitors are being asked to stay off the embankment until those plants become established.

Ms Aston said work to improve the health of the Lake Cathie-Lake Innes Estuary is continuing in the background.

This includes stakeholder meetings to determine how recently released hydrodynamic modelling will be factored into the local Coastal Management Plan and Council’s Lake Cathie Opening Strategy.

Testing of the water quality is also ongoing, including by Year 12 Marine Studies students at Camden Haven High School.

Teacher Dr Deb Geronimi and Revive Lake Cathie’s Greg Suendermann recently helped students put theory into practice during a visit to the lagoon.

Their tests showed the quality of the incoming tide was good with high oxygen levels and no ammonia.

However, the water around Lakeside Way, Kenwood Drive and Cowarra Creek was of poor quality with very low oxygen levels and high concentrations of ammonia.

The group said the source needs to be determined and could be decomposing organisms, iron bacteria or sewage.

By Sue STEPHENSON