John Haslem, of Elders Real Estate, specialises in premium waterfront properties, and is in no doubt that the council’s sea-level rise policy had taken its toll on real estate values, especially in the Surfside, Maloneys Beach and Long Beach areas. Mr Haslem said that in the past 12 months, two properties in Myamba Parade, Surfside, which had bank valuations of 

$1.5 million and $1.4 million, sold for 

only $1,050,000 and $980,000 respectively.

Another house in Myamba Parade which should have sold for $750,000 brought only $475,000 while the vacant block next door which should have fetched $500,000 was sold for only $275,000, he said.  

Council was also “suffering” through a loss of rates revenue as the Valuer General’s land valuations tumbled, he said.

Mr Haslem, a retired Canberra solicitor, former federal MP and past president of the Batemans Bay Cham-

ber of Commerce, said council had rightly developed a sea-level rise policy based on information from the United Nations.

“My position is that council needed to be cautious and take precautions, but without opting for the worst- case scenario,” Mr Haslem said.

“What council did wrong was to assume all the worst aspects of what was going to happen in the next 40 to 100 years,” he said.

“The danger lies in trying to project too far forward,” he said, adding that a seven-to-10-year outlook was more realistic. 

Mr Haslem believed there was just as much risk in the council being overly zealous as what there was in it being too apathetic.

“It is my opinion that it would be possible for council to be sued if they made a mistake either way,” he said.

“Council is in a very difficult situation.”

Mr Haslem said a lot of “mums and dads” had seen the value of their investments falls.

“You’ve got people who own a beachfront property and have lived there for 40 to 50 years; they watched the value increase over the years as the location has become increasingly desirable and now you’ve reached a situation where it’s declining because of the threat of rising sea levels,” he said.  

LJ Hooker licensee Michael Skuse labelled Eurobodalla Shire Council’s sea-level rise policy as so “dreadful” that it bordered on being unconstitutional.

Mr Skuse claimed the council had given advice to banks on properties that had resulted in sales falling through.

“[In one case] the feedback the bank received was so negative that it withdrew from its offer to finance the property,” Mr Skuse said.

Mr Skuse said the Broulee property, which had an asking price of $1.275 million, sold for $820,000.

He said the NSW property market was experiencing across-the-board growth - with the exception of the Eurobodalla.  

First National sales consultant Pat Jamieson said Eurobodalla council needed a clearer policy for both buyers and vendors.

Ms Jamieson said terms such as “relocatable” and “decommissionable” were too open to interpretation.

“Shoalhaven council certainly has a very much clearer policy,” she said. 

Ms Jamieson said initially there had been quite a degree of fear in the Eurobodalla housing market over sea-level rise.

This had begun to subside, with people seeing beach-front developments going ahead and owners being able to secure insurance, she said.

She believed recent falls in house prices across the Eurobodalla were the result of an overall correction of the market, and not necessarily because of the shire’s policy on sea-level rise.