Inquiry Finds Mummaga Lake at Risk from New Development

An Independent inquiry from 2002, Commissioned by the State Government, classified Mummaga Lake in Dalmeny as in need of ‘significant protection’, including recommendations to

 “Limit any new urban and rural residential development to within the existing boundaries of such developed areas’” in order to preserve and restore critical natural ecosystems .

Dalmeny Matters are concerned about the environmental impacts of Council’s decision to sell off land which forms part of the water catchment area of Mummaga Lake, to be cleared and subdivided. 

The group has contacted Council to ask why no Management Plan has been developed for Mummaga Lake despite these findings being presented almost two decades ago.

Enormous remedial costs have been faced by other coastal Councils, where clearance and development has resulted in

 “the occurrence of blue green algal blooms” and a  “requirement for mechanical aeration of the water body, at significant cost, to reduce the release of nutrients accumulated in lake sediments”.

The Healthy Rivers Commission Independent Inquiry into Coastal Lakes outlines Management Plans for coastal lakes across the South Coast and discusses the serious threats to these fragile systems which can result from mismanagement. 

Emphasis is given to the need to limit residential development in coastal lake catchment areas, and specifically mentions small South Coast communities as unsuitable for new subdivisions, stating that

     “ ..expansion of these villages would impact adversely on the ecosystems of such coastal lakes”. 

Under the Coastal Management Act 2016 Eurobodalla Council has a responsibility to develop a Coastal Management Plan, including Estuary Management Plans, however Council state on their website that 

“We have existing management plans in place for Moruya and Wagonga. Being a smaller estuary and partially under management of National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS), Mummaga Lake does not have an existing plan.”

Council began development of a broader Coastal Management Program in 2010, and the Program is still incomplete despite Council projections that it would be completed by May 2021. 

 The State Environmental Planning Policy (Coastal Management) 2018 states that

“Development consent must not be granted to development on land within the coastal zone unless the consent authority has taken into consideration the relevant provisions of any certified coastal management program that applies to the land.”

Dalmeny Matters have voiced concerns to The Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, the Hon Rob Stokes, that Eurobodalla Council have not met their responsibility to form a Management Plan, and seem intent on clearing and developing the catchment area without properly assessing the serious impacts such development may have, according to the Inquiry into Coastal Lakes. 

It is unreasonable to expect that any environmental assessment of the Land Release Area would have the capacity to evaluate the risk to Mummaga Lake from land clearing without a Management Plan for the lake having first been created.

The Commissioner of the Inquiry, Dr Peter Crawford, asserted that:

 “It is not only the environmental values of coastal lakes that are being threatened. The various human activities that depend on ‘healthy lakes’, such as tourism, fishing and oyster growing, are also being placed at risk…There is everywhere a need to ensure that current and future decisions begin to ‘turn the tide’ and ensure that the remaining values of these natural assets are maintained.” 

Mummaga Lake meets Dalmeny Beach

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