Houses at Collaroy Beach took the brunt of the June 2016 storm. Credit:Peter Rae "No one's driving it," a government source said. "Ninety-five per cent [of the work] has been done." 'Frustrated' One problem is timing. Carriage of the new coastal package was inherited by new Planning Minister Anthony Roberts from his predecessor Rob Stokes when Gladys Berejiklian became Premier in January. Most of the work, excluding the SEPP and maps, was transferred a couple of months later to Gabrielle Upton. The new Environment Minister is described as "forensic" in her efforts to master a brief vying for attention with other local government priorities in her portfolio.

"We are becoming increasingly concerned that the government's coastal management reform agenda has remained static for months," said Geoff Withycombe, executive officer of the Sydney Coastal Councils Group. "[We] are frustrated about why it has taken so long and is now seemingly completely stalled with new ministers in place." One year on, three of the 10 Collaroy homes on the frontline of beach erosion are still unoccupied. Credit:Nick Moir Fairfax Media sought details of when key measures would be implemented. The planning department is "considering submissions to finalise" the SEPP and mapping, a spokeswoman said. Penny Sharpe, Labor's environment spokeswoman, said "hapless and disinterested ministers are failing to deliver the environment protections and management that NSW needs". The scene at Collaroy Beach after the storm a year ago. Credit:Peter Rae

"Everything is in draft while council and communities have no guidance," Ms Sharpe said. "The NSW Coastal Council was supposed to meet eight times in the first year to give advice to the minister yet they still haven't been appointed." The sand has largely returned but the homes are still exposed, pending protection works that may get the nod later this year. Credit:Nick Moir 'Mire' The issues have vexed governments for decades: how to curb inappropriate development in ways that balance rights of existing property owners, secure public amenity and assets, and prepare for what scientists say are inevitable consequences of climate change such as rising sea levels and fiercer storms.

Relief, though, for some of the residents most affected by last year's storm may not be far off. Garry Silk, one of the affected residents at Collaroy, says people "just want our lives back". Credit:James Brickwood The Northern Beaches Council says it has finally crossed a "regulatory mire" that would allow 10 households to submit plans for a $1.5 million revetment – a sloping seawall – to be built in front of homes at Collaroy. Other applications are expected to follow. "This once-in-a-lifetime event enabled us to get to the crux of the matter, identify where the issues were, and find our way through the red tape to enable residents to put in applications for protection works," council deputy general manager Ben Taylor said. The breakthrough resolves an arm wrestle with Crown Lands over approving a wall that crosses state and private land to help protect homes and assets such as the vital Pittwater Road behind.

Crown Lands found it "very difficult to get their heads around" the issue, a council official said. In turn, the council couldn't give residents clarity without knowing Crown Lands' position. Crown Lands will now work with the council to approve or reject the proposals. If approved, residents will pay 80 per cent of the wall's costs, with the council as much as 10 per cent. Both want the state to pick up the rest. "The NSW government stands ready to provide funding assistance on the basis in which the council applies under cost-sharing arrangements," the government spokeswoman said. "The residents just want to get on with it and get their lives back," said Garry Silk, who owns one of 10 Collaroy houses most exposed. Separately, the Office of Environment and Heritage has begun a cost-benefit analysis of a proposed wall for Wamberal Beach. The Central Coast Council's coastal zone management plan was only recently certified.

The move may finally bring certainty to locals, some of whom have been fighting in the courts for a permanent wall. They have also been demanding the Central Coast Council – indeed, anyone – clean up asbestos that remains exposed on the beach after last year's tempest. 'Very disappointing' As NSW heads into another storm season - east coast lows are most common from about May to September - property owners are anxious for work on more permanent protection to get under way. Also unresolved is whether the federal and state governments will chip into sand renourishment - especially in the state's 15 beach erosion "hotspots". Such outlays could prove critical for determining the useful life of new walls if, as expected, sea levels keep rising.

Northern Beaches Council, for instance, wrote to both levels of government and the response has been "very disappointing", Dick Persson, the council's administrator, has said.