‘‘BUREAUCRACY gone mad’’ is how Great Lakes deputy mayor Len Roberts described the management of the Port Stephens estuary.
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Cr Roberts has joined a chorus of concerned voices from local government, the community, fishing and oyster industries calling for one single authority to oversee the estuary’s management.
‘‘There are at least nine agencies involved in Port Stephens,’’ Cr Roberts said.
‘‘The duplication, waste and mismanagement by these agencies needs to be investigated and a single Port Stephens [estuary] authority established.’’
A single body would cut through the red tape of requiring nine separate departments to tick off on any projects looking to be carried out within the estuary.
These departments include Crown Land, Office of Environment and Heritage, Roads and Maritime Services, Marine Parks Authority, NSW Department of Primary Industries, National Parks and Wildlife Service, NSW Environment Protection Authority and the councils of Great Lakes and Port Stephens.
Cr Roberts said it was mismanagement and ‘‘hopeless structure’’ within departments that had seen inaction on a growing number of problems within the estuary during the years.
Most topically this included the Myall River dredging project, halted in its tracks until 2015, and the Jimmys Beach renourishment project.
Other problems include the loss of coral reefs and the mysterious Pacific oyster deaths.
‘‘We’re losing valuable money in tourism with this inaction,’’ Cr Roberts said.
‘‘The oyster industry is suffering, and so are the fishing people.’’