2022-11-14 GC Agenda - Item 3 - Attachment 1 - Draft Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan

1. Executive Summary
Noosa’s natural amenity is ones of the greatest contributors to it’s liveability, and the Eastern
Beaches Foreshore Reserves are an iconic part of Noosa’s coastal landscapes. These foreshore
reserves are also central to Noosa’s coastal neighbourhoods - most of our seaside residents and
communities live alongside them. They are central to the Noosa resident and visitor experience,
with many people walking through the Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves to access Noosa’s
Beaches, enjoying the beautiful views the area has to offer.

Noosa’s dune foreshores are special environmental places too – many plants and animals only live
in coastal dunes, and they provide a critical link between the ocean and westward natural areas.
Some species, such as the endangered green turtle, rely on healthy dunes and beaches to
reproduce. As climate change continues, Noosa’s naturally vegetated foreshores and dunes will
play a critical role in our community’s resilience.

The uniqueness of Noosa’s Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves is well recognised by Noosa
people, past and present. For millennia Kabi Kabi (Gubbi Gubbi) people have lived and worked on
the Eastern Beaches, caring for Country through spiritual and environmental stewardship and
practises. Across the broader Noosa community, when asked what people valued most in Noosa
Shire, 77% of the 1655 respondents rated ‘Elements of the natural environment (natural features,
views, vegetation, topography, water, wildlife)’ as most important (Noosa Shire Liveability Survey,
Noosa Council 2021).

The Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan describes the social and environmental values
of the public land that makes up Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves, threats to these values,
and the management actions needed to address them.


Scope of plan
The Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan covers the public land managed by Council in
the Eastern Beaches coastal foreshore reserves and near–coastal bushland reserves shown in
Figure 1.


Purpose
The purpose of the Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan (EBFMP) is to describe the
social and environmental values of the Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves and identify
management issues and actions to maintain these values in the future. The plan is to provide
overarching guidance for management decisions.

The development and subsequent implementation of the EBFMP is in response to clear community
desire for nature-based coastal hazards and climate change risk mitigation activities determined by
public consultation for the Noosa Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan 2021.

Improving the ecosystem health of Noosa’s coastal environments is also identified as a
management priority in the Noosa Environment Strategy 2019 and Noosa Bushland Reserves
Strategic Management Plan 2021 – 2026.




Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan – Draft (V4 26.9.22 – for public consultation)     Page 3