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Batemans Bay has been identified as being under threat by coastal erosion, joining a select group of 19 NSW residential areas including Mollymook, Narrabeen and Lennox Head.

Environmental watchdog group Coastwatchers has raised their concerns over the vulnerability of the area and possible issues home-owners may face with insurance policies.

Some policies do not cover storm and flood damage caused by sea action and Coastwatchers president Sheela Monahan believes action is needed now to minimise damage to properties.

The NSW Draft Sea Level Rise Policy Statement, released by the Department of Environment and Climate Change, recommends that there should be plans in place to counter a 40cm rise in the sea level by 2050. But Ms Monahan said problems would begin before the rise hits that level.

The real threat would be when the increasing sea level coincided with storm surges, she said, especially if they occurred during high tides.

“It will probably start happening in the near future,” she said. “The sea water will run up on shore much further and the waves from the storm surges will have a lot of energy and could be very destructive.”

Coastwatchers member and Long Beach resident Reina Hill remembered when similar weather conditions occurred, causing a storm surge in the coastal suburb and flooding very close to properties in 1991.

A Batemans Bay vulnerability study in 2001 identified low-lying properties in suburbs like Long Beach as exposed to coastal hazards. The study also predicted that there would be a coastal recession of up to four metres over 50 years but with only a 0.2cm sea level increase factored in.

Coastwatchers believes this coastal recession could be as far as 40 metres, based on the recent policy statement.

Ms Hill has been appointed to represent Coastwatchers on the Eurobodalla Shire Council’s Coastal Management Advisory Committee to review these issues.

An interim draft Sea Level Rise Policy will be developed to address the risks to residential properties in the shire.

For more, see Wednesday’s editorial on page 14.