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

          Noosa Shire Council



  Engaging with the Noosa community and                Key messages
  other stakeholders has formed an important
  part of the development of this plan. This           The most prominent messages from the
  engagement has provided for a two-way shared         Noosa community received during the plan’s
  understanding of the risks Council and the           development have been:
  community face from coastal hazards, and has         •	Natural and scenic amenity assets are
  helped to create a plan that reflects a vision for      considered to have the highest intrinsic value
  Noosa shared by many.                                   to the community.
  Several rounds of stakeholder engagement             •	Short-term disruptions to public access
  were carried out during the course of this              are tolerable, with a strong emphasis on
  plan’s development with members of the                  restoring accessibility quickly and safely.
  public, industry experts, State government
                                                       •	There is a general acceptance that
  representatives, and specialists within Council.
                                                          temporary interruptions are reasonably
  Identifying coastal values, coastal hazard risks
                                                          likely to occur and that these are forecast to
  and adaptation options were topics of focus
                                                          increase/worsen, but there is a low tolerance
  for this consultation process, with feedback
                                                          for more permanent impacts.
  yielding valuable insights into Noosa’s most
  valued assets and preferred adaptation options.      •	There is a strong preference for nature-based
  These activities included multiple online and in-       solutions that fit with the look and feel of
  person surveys, pop-up events, static displays,         Noosa, and that minimize impacts to natural
  workshops, and meetings with groups of                  environments.
  stakeholders with a range of special interests.      •	There is a preference for protection and
  An important aspect of this CHAP has been               active on-ground management of local
  working with members of the community to                beaches, dunes, habitats and waterways to
  understand the values, wants and needs of               help build coastal resilience and manage
  Noosa Shire residents, business owners and              erosion risks.
  other stakeholders. Knowing that adaptation          •	There is a need for scientific monitoring that
  responses must recognise the diversity of               provides for locally-specific data to inform
  values and objectives amongst community                 future adaptation responses.
  members, this process has required complex
  stakeholder engagement in order to build             •	The CHAP needs to take a flexible pathways
  upon existing knowledge within the community            approach that is staged, evolves over time,
  regarding coastal hazards, as well as to ensure         and takes advantage of new information and
  community stakeholders are meaningfully                 technological advancements.
  involved in the planning process.                    •	The CHAP should make clear the relationship
  These actions were critical to identifying the          with the planning scheme, and not direct
  locations and assets the local community                planning scheme changes that adversely
  deems to be of most importance and why, as              affect private property or conflict with the
  well as the extent to which the community is            State Planning Policy for coastal hazards.
  able to tolerate damage or other impairments
  due to coastal hazards. These perspectives
  were vital in appropriately determining the
  risks and areas of most concern, as well as for
  assessing adaptation options.


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