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It was time to move on. Landa was becoming impatient, glancing at his watch and edging towards his car. We set off for Harbord, where we were due to meet a delegation from Warringah on the beach.
I sat alone in the back of the ministerial LTD. Landa slumped beside the driver, his eyes closed, listening to the classical music which blared from the car stereo. Conversation was not encouraged.
A small crowd was waiting in the car park at the beach: planners and engineers from Warringah Shire Council; the president and some of the members of Freshwater Surf Lifesaving Club; and my own helpers, who had rushed ahead from Manly. As the car stopped, Landa leaped out, and without waiting for me, strode across to the seawall, past the expectant crowd. We hurried after him. He turned from contemplating the ocean and started to question me:
"Why have you brought me here?"
I explained that the local people were concerned by the loss of sand from the beach due to recent erosion. They were hopeful of some assistance from the Government to restore the beachfront. My experts expounded the theory of frontal dune stabilization:
That sand could be retained on a beach by the reconstruction of a frontal dune, stabilized by suitable grasses and shrubs; that sea walls and other