EUROBODALLA Shire councillor Milton Leslight will put forward a motion at the next council meeting to repeal the council’s sea level rise policy and have council notify affected home owners.

More than 6000 homes are affected by the sea level rise adaption policy, which was adopted by the council in 2009.

Cr Leslight said residents should have been formally notified if they were affected when the policy was adopted, however said council was advised not to tell the community by a consultant.

Cr Leslight, a real estate agent, said the impact on development and property value had been “catastrophic”.

“People go to sell or build and then realise there is this horrendous millstone around there neck that they never knew about,” he said.

“People have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars because of this.”

The sea level rise debate frustrates Cr Leslight as he feels far more needs to be done to bring information public so the community can be better advised.

“In my opinion the community is being held ransom,” he said.

“It’s deceptive that we won’t inform the community.”

The state government has withdrawn its sea level rise policy and announced that councils would have the flexibility to determine their own sea level rise projections to suit their local conditions.

He said it is predicted that in the Eurobodalla by 2050 sea levels will have risen by 40cm and by 90cm in 2100.

Cr Leslight said Shoalhaven City Coun-cil and Eurobodalla Shire Council recently engaged a consultant to review the policy surrounding the sea level raising, which was ongoing.