2021-01-18 GC - Item 3 - Attachment 2 - Phase 7 Project Summary Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan

 Noosa Shire Council Coastal Hazard Adaptation Plan: Project Summary                                         i
 Executive Summary




Executive Summary
To help the Noosa Shire adapt to potential effects of climate change over time, Noosa Council is responding
to potential climate change risks by undertaking a multi-year project to develop a Climate Change Adaptation
Plan (CCAP) to build adaptive capacity within Council and across the community.

The coastal hazards component of the CCAP will be informed by the development of a Coastal Hazards
Adaptation Plan (CHAP). The CHAP is funded by a grant agreement with the Local Government Association
of Queensland (LGAQ), under the Queensland Department of Environment and Science (DES) QCoast2100
initiative.

This report provides a summary of the outcomes of Phases 2-7, for which BMT have responsibility.

Work on the CHAP commenced in April 2017, and has progressed over that time in stages, with input from
community consultation and Council staff at critical points as technical studies were progressed.

The methodology for each phase has closely followed the guidance provided within the MS & G which sets
out minimum standards to be achieved by each Council. A separate technical report has been produced and
approved by Council and LGAQ at the end of each phase.

Noosa faces impacts from a range of coastal hazards, particularly towards the latter half of the century. In
some locations hazards are being experienced in such a way as to already represent a material risk. A risk
assessment identified that without mitigation, increased coastal erosion is likely for the open coast region,
having a high impact particularly on privately-owned assets, as well as Council coastal infrastructure (e.g.
roads and recreational areas) and the beaches themselves. Areas along the Noosa River (Noosa Heads,
Tewantin, and in particular Noosaville and Noosa North Shore) will be increasingly at risk due to inundation
associated with rising sea levels. In this instance, the greatest level of exposure and impacts are expected to
be felt by Council infrastructure (e.g. stormwater networks, open space, roads), some private property, as well
as indirect consequences for adjacent retail and commercial operations.

The feedback received during public consultation throughout the project thus far has been for Council to focus
on less intrusive solutions to minimising these potential risks such as nature-based solutions (i.e. beach
management and dune augmentation) on the open coast, rather than hard (less reversible) interventions such
as seawalls. This was borne out by both the options assessment (Phase 6) and more detailed Cost-Benefit
Analysis (Phase 7), particularly for the open coast areas which favoured ‘lighter touch’ options. For areas
subject to inundation hazards, in built-up areas with significant public assets, levees and infrastructure
upgrades are preferred over the long term. The study also found that planning controls may also be used to
support nature-based solutions, and thus could be included in a suite of complementary measures that are
consistent with the feedback received.

A summary of the recommended coastal hazard mitigation measures for consideration in the Coastal Hazards
Adaptation Plan is provided below.