Graham Pike is a member of Kiama Council’s Flood Risk Management who describes himself as an environmental scientist and recreational fishing advocate. He is also heavily involved with the Jamberoo Valley Ratepayers and Residents Association.

He fears the boardwalk’s route and design, which involves a 600-metre section over the water, supported by pylons drilled into the riverbed.

“Residents and visitors are being given no say on whether or not they want the boardwalk at all and yet the structure will disfigure and destroy one of the last remaining pristine estuarine environments on the east coast.

“Our residents do not realise they are about to lose an asset whose values are entirely in its naturalness,” he says.

Mr Pike is happy with the concept of a shared path/cycleway providing the missing link in the coastal walk but maintains it could be done more sensitively.

“I have no objection to a tastefully constructed footpath and cycleway beside the river. Even if cantilevered sections extended over the water, that would be fine but drilling pylons into the riverbed in such a sensitive area is not.”

He also fears ratepayers will be left with an expensive ongoing maintenance bill, made worse by anchoring the structure opposite the river’s flood flow in a brackish saltwater environment.

His concerns over costs echo those of Kiama councillor Matt Brown, who last August sounded a warning over the project’s maintenance bill, saying it would come at the expense of other council undertakings.   

Mr Pike outlined his environmental concerns in a letter to Premier Gladys Berejiklian in October last year, arguing the location of the boardwalk fell within a wetland area under State Environmental Planning Policy No. 14 – Coastal Wetlands (SEPP 14).

“As your officers will know, the Policy was introduced in 1985 to protect coastal wetlands and stipulates planning and development controls under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to ensure that developments in or adjacent to wetlands have little impact on wetland values, of which the Minnamurra River estuary has many,” he wrote.

Kiama MP Gareth Ward, who secured the $4.5 million grant to fund the boardwalk, maintains it’s a popular project, referring to an online petition with 600 signatures supporting it. 

He said it was Kiama Council’s responsibility to ensure the project met state and federal environmental laws.

“If it doesn’t meet those requirements, it won’t be approved,” he said.

Kiama Council would also be responsible for ongoing maintenance costs, Mr Ward said. 

READ MORE: Feedback sought from the community