Reference Document - Coastal Hazard Assessment - MCU24 0094 · MCU24/0094

                                  33 Ross Crescent, Sunshine Beach – Coastal Hazzard Assessment | 33 Ross Crescent Family Trust



3.        Historical Aerial Photograph Analysis
Aerial imagery has been examined to assess historical shifts in beach position at the site. Figure 3-1 to
Figure 3-8 display aerial photographs taken in 1972, 1974, 1981, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2018,
illustrating the position of the current, March 2024, toe of the frontal dune in relation to the shoreline position
at the time of each image (estimated from the aerial photographs). The 2024 toe of frontal dune was
determined from the vegetation line captured using handheld GPS.

The beach was significantly eroded in 1971 and 1974, attributed to a high frequency of tropical cyclones
impacting the south-eastern Queensland coastline in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The 1974 aerial
photograph depicts the most severe erosion in the photographic record, featuring extensive scarping of the
vegetated dune adjacent to the site. Note the erosion scarp in 1974 was located approximately 20m east
of the subject property.

Since the 1981 photograph, the beach has shown signs of recovery. Currently, it is in an accretive phase,
as depicted in Figure 2-1. Although there was erosion in 2018, the beach has since accreted and to its
current position.

Between 1960 and 1979, the site was impacted by 18 tropical cyclones within 200km of the site, followed
by seven tropical cyclones between 1980 and 1999, and three since 2000. The decrease in the number of
tropical cyclones affecting the southeast Queensland region since 1980 is reflected in the observed beach
recovery during this period.




Figure 3-1 1972 Aerial Photograph (qimagery.information.qld.gov.au)




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