2021-11-15 GC Agenda - Item 7 - Attachment 1 - Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan

          Noosa Shire Council



  Approach
  It is critical that Council adopts a long-term, proactive approach regarding climate-related risks to help
  improve and build the adaptive capacity of our coast. This means, monitoring and planning for changes
  to coastal hazard risks including ensuring appropriate and effective: development requirements,
  infrastructure planning (including roads and drainage), disaster management, asset management
  and governance systems. This planning needs to be adaptable, measured and take account of new
  information including local monitoring results. It also needs to be supported by strong Council effort
  towards ensuring that natural foreshores are as healthy and resilient as they can be to help reduce the
  risk from increasing coastal hazards to our community.

  Council acknowledges that climate change poses a serious challenge to Noosa Shire – and ultimately to
  the planet. Council believes that the responsibility for responding to the causes and risks associated with
  climate change is shared by many stakeholders and thus requires a collaborative approach. Council
  acknowledges its responsibility to understand and consider local risks, and to work with the community,
  government agencies and other partners to improve its knowledge and capability to respond. That
  response will involve not only adaptive and pragmatic planning for development and infrastructure, but
  also localised emissions reductions.
  Uncertainty is a key characteristic of climate change and long-term coastal management, and can be
  viewed as a barrier to progressing important adaptation actions. This uncertainty should not, however,
  be an excuse to delay planning or action. The appropriate approach to managing uncertainty is to
  plan over multiple time horizons, apply the precautionary principle and incorporate options that can
  be attuned to needs as they change over time. This plan takes a risk-based ‘monitor-review-manage’
  pathways approach to preparing Noosa for changes to local coastal hazards. It provides a fit-for-
  purpose plan based on the best available scientific data and information, noting the need for flexibility
  and iterative review over time as new, locally-specific information arises.



                                          Reference Box #1
                                           What is ‘adaptation’?
       Despite ongoing international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, climate change is likely
       to have significant effects on coastal communities across Australia. One of the most significant
       changes, rising sea-levels rise, has the potential to impact the livelihoods and lifestyles of coastal
       residents and the natural environment. Decisions and actions that help prepare for, reduce,
       mitigate, and avoid the adverse consequences of climate change, as well as to take advantage of
       the opportunities, are known as climate change adaptation.
       In this context, coastal hazards adaptation means understanding what effect sea level rise and
       increased storm intensity may have on the behaviour of coastal hazards, and taking appropriate
       action to prevent or minimise the damage they could cause in the future to the built environment,
       human health and safety, and our natural systems. It can also mean taking advantage of any
       opportunities that may arise to transform Noosa into something better.
       Robust adaptation planning takes into account the timing of any proposed actions. Because the
       future is almost always uncertain, acting too soon can risk locking councils and communities into
       inappropriate outcomes. But acting too late (or not at all) could risk locking Noosa into impacts that
       are costly or unavoidable. Local monitoring will therefore continue to inform future coastal hazards
       modelling and mapping and timely adaptation responses.


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