Plans to save properties on eroded beaches hit legal walls One the waterfront: Robert Wiggins, with son Dan, says an underground seawall would help at Narrabeen. It is the Sydney homeowner's man-versus-wild battle: erecting walls to stop the savage sea from swallowing their pricey waterfront properties. But Australian research says beachfront landowners have no legal right to defend their homes from the ocean, nor do governments have a duty to intervene. Environment authorities are considering the findings as the state government overhauls coastal protection laws. Homeowners say sea walls are one of their best defences against erosion and inundation as sea levels rise and the coast is battered by more frequent, intense storms. But environmental groups say the walls, which can be built on public or private property, cause other parts of the shoreline to recede and favour vested interests over the public's right to the beach. In a paper published in the Australian Law Journal, academic John Corkill claimed that while landowners once had a limited common law right to defend against the sea by building walls, that right is trumped by NSW coastal protection laws that acknowledge beaches should be preserved for the public good. Mr Corkill, a Southern Cross University PhD candidate and former environmental campaigner, reached his conclusion by reviewing English court rulings dating back more than 130 years, as well as modern Australian and New Zealand cases. "Landowners have to accept that [homes at threat from coastal erosion] are not safe places and they need to find somewhere else to live," Mr Corkill said However, Sydney solicitor Karen Coleman said the planning regime does not entirely override common law rights and government duties. "I disagree that state and local authorities today cannot have any obligations to do coastal protection works," she said. "Private landowners still have individual legal rights and remedies," she said, adding that modern High Court rulings supported her position. The state government is reviewing coastal protection laws. Its next stage of reforms, due next year, will help councils manage coastal erosion, through clearer policy guidance, technical advice and funding options. A spokesman for Environment Minister Robyn Parker said the department was "considering the implications" of Mr Corkill's research. The state government has allocated about $1.5 million protecting public assets with sea walls since coming to power and federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has promised a 15,000-strong "green army" of young volunteers, which would build sea walls among other projects, should it win government. Narrabeen property owner Robert Wiggins said the absence of a sea wall outside his beachfront home means a dangerous "cliff" of sand is created after bad storms. About 40 lots along Narrabeen-Collaroy beach have sea walls, however others remain exposed. "Because we don't have sea walls all along, some properties like mine will get ravaged when we have a massive storm," Mr Wiggins said, adding a continuous wall built along the beach, buried under sand, would improve public safety.