2021-10-08 Special Meeting Agenda

SPECIAL MEETING AGENDA                                                                    8 OCTOBER 2021


Community comment                                        Proposed response
General – CHAP approach
Eastern Beaches
Do not support the construction of hard-engineered       - The CHAP investigated the option of hard-
seawalls as a mitigation option. Such capital works        engineered seawalls as a defence from future
as extremely expensive and likely to generate a set        coastal erosion along the Eastern Beaches.
of new problems. Hard walling of seafronts has           - The cost benefit analysis found this option
been shown to remove sandy beaches, generate               performed poorly with a net present value of
additional erosion at the ends of the walling, and         negative $2.77 billion for Peregian to Sunshine
completely destroy the natural processes of dune           Beach and negative $67 million for Teewah
replenishment. We fully support the CHAP findings          Beach. While the expected property and asset
that such walls are not feasible in Noosa Shire. We        benefits are high because the seawall would
agree that the public benefit cannot be shown to           provide a defence from erosion, the
justify the cost and environmental damage from             implementation costs would be very high.
hard walling.
                                                         - The analysis demonstrated that the construction
                                                           of hard-engineered revetment walls would be
                                                           unviable as it is unable to demonstrate sufficient
                                                           public benefit to justify the economic, social and
                                                           environmental costs involved. This option is
                                                           therefore considered not feasible from a socio-
                                                           economic perspective.
The main reason why ‘experts’ think all will erode       The CHAP acknowledges the need for improved
on the southern side of Hells Gates is the premise       understanding of sediment transport and supply for
that the prevailing northerly littoral current           Eastern Beaches. The document calls for an
transporting all the sand north, will in 80 years flow   assessment of the availability of offshore sand
south. 20 Million years flowing north, no data but       supply for use in beach nourishment, including the
lots of evidence, but in 80 years will flow south no     ecological impact of using this resource. Work has
data, no evidence.                                       commenced on the project scoping.
Not enough is known about local sediment
dynamics, so more research is needed.
Support Council’s past efforts to prevent the            Council has advised the surf club management that
establishment of a new surf club at Peregian closer      redevelopment of Peregian Beach Surf Club should
to the beach.                                            focus on the existing location. The area seaward of
                                                         the existing surf club is vulnerable to coastal
                                                         erosion as a result of projected sea level rise and
                                                         more extreme weather events.
We note that consideration of mitigation work is to      This level of detail will be included in a more
be carried out over the next five years, however it      detailed implementation plan to be prepared once
would be useful to have a list of assets (playground,    the CHAP is complete and will be used to inform
toilet facilities, surf club building, skate park etc)   Council’s asset management and planning.
and when they might be impacted.
Believe there needs to be a clear message                This matter is covered by Queensland Coastal
somewhere in the CHAP that no private mitigation         Protection and Management Act 1995.
efforts on public land, including foreshores, can be
tolerated (and perhaps the risks associated with
such works). When private landowners take matters
into their own hands, the negative repercussions for
natural processes and neighbouring areas can be
significant. Even the direct impact on the beach
ecosystem and sand biodiversity is significant when
bulldozers and front-end loaders are engaged to
shift sand.




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