On 13 July 2026, Eurobodalla Shire Council wrote to Friends of Surfside Beach confirming that the budget request proposed by Friends of Surfside Beach was supported by staff and that Council had resolved to “approve a recurring operational budget of $60,000 from the 2026-27 financial year to respond to emergency coastal management works identified as approved actions within Council’s Open Coast Coastal Management and Flood Risk Management Plans.”
The full email reads as follows:
“Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback during the exhibition of Council’s draft Operational Plan 2026-27.
Your submission and staff response were provided in full to our Councillors and were considered at the Ordinary Council Meeting that was held on 30 June 2026.
Please see below staffs’ response to your submission noted within the agenda:
- Surfside Beach sand scraping budget: The budget request proposed by the Friends of Surfside Beach (FoSB) is supported by staff. It is recommended that a recurring budget of $60,000 be allocated commencing in the 2026-27 financial year; to support emergency coastal management works at Surfside, and other coastal hazard sites in accordance with approved actions in Council’s Open Coast Coastal Management and Flood Risk Management Plans. Additionally, Council will advocate to the NSW Government for further funding to support emergency coastal management works. It is expected that grant funds and/or community fund raising by the FoSB could substitute this budget, but the upfront commitment from Council would allow the forward planning required to effectively manage coastal erosion priorities.
In relation to GMR26/006 Adoption of the Operational Plan 2026-27, Fees and Charges 2026-27 and Long Term Financial Plan 2026-36, Council resolved:
…
- That Council approve a recurring operational budget of $60,000 from the 2026-27 financial year to respond to emergency coastal management works identified as approved actions within Council’s Open Coast Coastal Management and Flood Risk Management Plans.
…”
At the 30 June 2026 public forum, North Batemans Bay local Trish Hellier argued for funding to be specifically and clearly allocated to Surfside. This generated discussion across Councillors and the Mayor publicly stated the following: “The intent here is that we allocate $60k but we are still going to be going to the state government for more funding and that community group (Friends of Surfside Beach) is also trying to internally raise some money so the idea is that we have a bigger pool and that we scrape multiple times a year with the current regime, but if there is extra money because we know how politicians love to make promises during election cycles, we may get this big bucket of money and we may not need to spend that $60,000 at Surfside that year, that we could then, you never know what might come tomorrow, another problem that we could allocate money to, but the intent of the $60,000 is for Surfside…..”
Jason Ford, President of Friends of Surfside Beach spoke with Mayor Hatcher the following day. Mayor Hatcher reiterated his public comments and made the following points – the $60K is for Surfside only, unless something changes via a separate larger State or Federal funding commitment; Council is already engaging with the State Government to request the State match the funding; Council intends to carry out two scraping exercises each year; Council will seek environmental approval to scrape more sand than last time and more often; Council is continuing to work on a permanent solution in the background.
You can watch the replay of Trish’s presentation and the Council discussion starting at the 41 minute point at: Meeting Archive – Eurobodalla Shire Council.
