2021-10-08 SM - Item 1 - Attachment 1 - Draft Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan

SUNRISE BEACH AND SUNSHINE BEACH
Setting
Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach are the northern-most localities in the Eastern Beaches.
Bordered by Burgess Creek in the south, and Noosa National Park at the northern end, this locality
has around 3.2 kilometres of beach frontage with a vegetated dune area between development
and the sea. These localities, particularly the beaches and foreshore recreational areas, are
popular with locals and visitors. They contain a range of assets and activities, from residential and
tourist accommodation, to popular restaurants and the Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club
(SLSC). Despite their popularity these localities maintain the aesthetics and atmosphere of a small
village.

Risks to Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach
Both Sunrise and Sunshine Beach have experienced erosion and loss of the frontal dunes during
powerful swell events and tropical cyclones. Like the other Eastern Beaches localities, the beaches
have typically recovered through natural coastal processes over time.

The low height of the frontal dunes, backed by very steep vegetated dunes, in this section of the
coastline mean some areas of the beach and dune foreshore may be at risk from a major coastal
erosion event. Appendix 4 shows the projected change in erosion prone area due to sea level rise
across various parts of Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach during a severe storm event. Tables 8
and 9 below provide a summary of the changing risk profile for six broad asset types within the
localities that are projected to be exposed to the effects of coastal erosion between present day
and 2100.

The main public assets at risk in Sunrise and Sunshine Beach are natural assets (beaches and
vegetated dunes); beach accesses; carparks and roads; buried infrastructure, and the Sunshine
Beach SLSC and Ed Webb Park. As well as these, a significant number of beachfront private
dwellings may be affected. The capacity to provide and maintain coastal protection works (e.g.
seawalls) for protection from erosion risks is impaired given the steep profile of the dune system
upon which the majority of high-risk locations are developed (such as private dwellings along
Seaview Terrace, Park Road, and Tingira Crescent) and the scale of many of these structures
relative to their lot size.

Impacts to the public assets (e.g. carparks, roads) may also have indirect impacts on adjacent
commercial and retail businesses.




Noosa Council – Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan                                              Page 42