The head of the soon-to-be-abolished Lake Illawarra Authority says he is "disappointed" but "unsurprised" at the NSW government's decision to appoint a management committee to oversee the future of the lake.
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Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner announced on Saturday the O'Farrell government would adopt recommendations made by a review panel that suggested replacing the LIA with an estuary management committee.
Doug Prosser, who has been chairman for 23 of the LIA's 25 years, said he suspected the authority's days were numbered when the most recent board was appointed for a year only.
"It hasn't come as a surprise," he said. "Given it took them 10 months to appoint a new authority board and they only gave us a 12-month contract instead of the normal two years, you could say we saw the writing on the wall back then. I disagree with the direction though - if it ain't broke don't fix it, I say."
The LIA was set up in 1988 by the Unsworth-led government with the aim of transforming the degraded waters and foreshore into an attractive recreational and tourist resource, as well as rectifying past damage.
However, the O'Farrell government ordered a review of the LIA in 2012 and a final report was handed down in April this year.
Mr Stoner said the review found that the authority had met its objectives under the Lake Illawarra Authority Act (1987), including improving the aquatic ecosystem, increasing tidal flow and creating better recreational amenities.
"The review recommends repealing the act and creating an estuary management committee to manage the lake into the future," Mr Stoner said. "This will effectively return management of the lake to Wollongong City and Shellharbour City councils and the community."
However, Mr Prosser said that model had been tried before - and failed.
Shellharbour MP Anna Watson echoed Mr Prosser's concerns at the weekend, saying abolishing the LIA could lead to a return to the "bad old days when no-one accepted responsibility for the waterway or its foreshores and simply passed the buck".
"I very much worry that neither Wollongong or Shellharbour councils have enough financial resources to invest in the continued good management of the waterway," she said, adding it would now compete with other waterways for government funds.
Mr Prosser also expressed concerns about funding models, saying the lake needed the same level of financial support it had been receiving in recent years to meet the demands of the increasing urban growth in the area.
"We had great support from both councils and the state and federal governments," he said.
"I'm not sure that degree of funding is going to be available for the new group but I hope it is.
"I'd really like to see them [the new committee] succeed because I'd love to see the lake remain healthy."
