Noosa Council is identifying and preparing for the increased risks of coastal hazards, driven by climate change.
Noosa Council is forging ahead with its plan to protect fragile coastline, as erosion started to impact some of the areas most valuable beachfronts.
The local government body is one of 10 other councils in Queensland pushing forward with a coastal hazards adaptation plan.
Noosa Deputy Mayor Frank Wilkie said it was now up to the public to have its say on the direction of the plan.
It’s the second round of community consultation for the region.
Once finalised the plan will be used in conjunction with the Noosa planning scheme as well as management and infrastructure planning.
“Noosa Council is one of 10 coastal councils throughout Queensland that have either completed or conducting public consultation for their coastal hazards adaptation plan,” he said.
“It’s all about identifying, communicating and preparing for the increased risks of coastal hazards, that’s coastal erosion, and tidal and flood inundation as a result of sea level rise and increased storm weather events due to climate change.
“We’ve started to see erosion effects at Sunrise and Sunshine Beach, Noosa Heads and also we know Noosaville is affected by severe floods.”
The Deputy Mayor said the plan was all about responsible planning for the future.
“So what comes out of these plans will inform land use planning in the planning schemes, where we position infrastructure – what height they will be also how land is used,” he said.
“There’s also advice for property owners as well.”
Sunshine Coast Environment Council’s Narelle McCarthy said the plan reinforced the impacts that were already being experienced on the Sunshine Coast.
“The technical work that goes into these plans and strategies really highlights just how vulnerable the Sunshine Coast regions are to climate change and intense weather events,” she said.
“It’s extremely important that we recognise and heed what this story is saying. We need to ensure that we don’t exacerbate the impacts of climate change by continuing on a track of increasing emissions.”
