Council will now move to stage two of the coastal management program and focus on localised environmental issues specific to four key areas - Lake Cathie/Lake Innes and Bonny Hills estuaries; the Hastings River estuary; the Camden Haven River and the Port Macquarie open coastline.

Council will include the development of background studies into the Lake Cathie/Bonny Hills estuaries into its 2021-2022 operational plan and seek funding under the Coastal Management Grant Program.

In 2016, the NSW government introduced a new framework to manage the coastal environment in an ecologically sustainable way for the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the residents and visitors of NSW.

The cornerstone of this framework, the Coastal Management Act 2016, contains provisions that should be followed to develop long-term strategies for the management of the coastal zone.

The Coastal Management Program (CMP) will set the long-term strategy for the coordinated management of the Port Macquarie-Hastings coastal zone.

The draft scoping study was reported to the May 2020 council meeting where council resolved to place the document on public exhibition for 28 days.

Twenty-two submissions were received during this time including an online survey which was conducted by Saving Lake Cathie.

Council said additional community and stakeholder engagement sessions will be undertaken in Stage 2 of the CMP process to further build on the feedback received under Stage 1.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: