Opinion

Nearly 60 years ago, residents of Kiama Downs were sounding the warning about beach erosion. In 2025, are we still just warning?

The Kiama Downs Ratepayers’ Association raised concerns that sound all too familiar today in an article from the Kiama Independent in March 1967 titled Kiama Downs conference on erosion.

Locals warned that “more intensive subdivision of the beach estate will ruin Boyd’s Beach.”

Their concerns included heavy rain, poor drainage, outlet pipes discharging into the beach and confusion over who was responsible.

It could have been written this week.

The Minister for Conservation at the time, WJ Beale, acknowledged: “Drainage is not an easy problem to handle” and urged that it be addressed early.

Yet many of those early warnings were never followed through.

In the Kiama Downs Beach Erosion Ratepayers Survey, residents documented a tide of over six feet with drainage pipes submerged in sea water.

“Commonsense dictates that these levels must be raised if we are to avoid tragedy in the future,” they wrote.

Soon after, in an article titled Height limit raised at Boyds Beach, Kiama Council lifted the maximum building height from 15 to 22 feet after developer pressure.

In Do stilts hit standards, debates continued about elevated homes that disrupted the coastal character and increased environmental risks.

And in Statement on drainage at Kiama Downs, Council and developers were locked in a stalemate.

Engineering firms confirmed beach drainage had not been completed. Yet development applications kept rolling in.

The Kiama Downs subdivision appeal made it clear that drainage and erosion were still unresolved.

Fast-forward to 2025 and we're still hearing about leaking sewer pipes, concerns over development near sensitive coastal zones and the protection of our rolling green hills.

These headlines are not just fragments of the past. They are reflections of conversations we are still having.

So it raises the bigger question: What do we want our community to look and feel like 20 or 30 years from now?

One idea involves using a strong visual symbol, like a crystal ball with the question: “What does our LGA look like in 20 to 30 years?”, to prompt imagination and invite community input.

These conversations will be grounded in lived experience and informed by our own history - not as nostalgia, but as a guide for better decision-making.

By asking how we got here and where we want to go, we have an opportunity to shift the conversation.

The pipes, the beach, the green hills and the decisions of the past are not just background.

They are the foundation of the future we build from here.