Meeting papers

communication as a first option, a range of non-regulatory responses, and a clear and methodical
regulatory response under Local Law No.4. In response Noosa Council is developinghas
developed and resourced a shire wide Encroachment policyPolicy, Organisational Procedures and
This is supported by a Natural Areas encroachment recovery program with a detailed risk
management matrix, a dedisiccated officer for managing shire wide encroachments in bushland
reserves and additional funding for restoration.


Encroachment descriptions
Encroachments are unauthorised improvement or use of another’s land.
Private beach accesses on public reserve land
Making or using private and / or informal beach accesses clears native vegetation, causes erosion
and spreads weeds. They fragment the bushland, create weak spots for severe weather impacts
and open the foreshore to increased salt, wind and storm damage. Over 90% of the neighbours
sharing a boundary with the EBFRs in areas which have been mapped so far have a private beach
access in public land.

Paths that cross the width of the foreshore reserve fragment the bush. Each one of these path
edges has accompanying ‘edge-effect- area, a strip of degraded bush, which usually has more
weeds and more sunlight, wind and salt intrusion, degrading the health and diversity of the
ecosystems. Having many more paths crossing the foreshore means that much more of the
retained bush is this degraded edge effect area, with reduced environmental values and increased
management costs.

Paths, especially in quieter areas, allow introduced predators to freely move across more of the
dune and beaches. This appears to particularly apply to foxes accessing the quieter, darker parts
of the beach that turtles are likely to use for nesting.
Private yard extensions into public land
As part of private yard extensions into public land, native vegetation is cleared and many are
planted with garden plants, and some contain small structure and retaining walls . Some yard
extensions extend over 40 metres into the public bushland. In some places, initial Council
investigations indicate that yard extensions are very common - over 90% of the residential
neighbours sharing a boundary with EBFRs in the areas that have been mapped so far have a
private yard extension into public land.

Replacing community bushland with a private garden is prohibited under Local Law No. 4, spreads
weeds and blocks can make firefighting access more difficult, with level changes, access along the
boundary and into the bush blocked with debris, plantings, fencing and other infrastructure.
Reducing the functional width of often already narrow vegetated foreshores reduces their abilitythe
ability of the toreserve to manage extreme weather, improve water quality, reduce sediment and
erosion and act as wildlife corridors and habitat.

Vegetation damage for views
Vegetation damage for views includes pruning, cutting, breaking, pulling, poisoning and clearing
native vegetation – including trees, shrubs and ground covers - on the dune and foreshores for
views. It also affects foreshores without a shared residential boundary.

There are a few different types of clearing - all layers cleared to bare earth or mowed grass,
topping, killing or clearing the tallest vegetation where many of the largest trees are killed, or under
scrubbing, where the understory and midstory are removed.

Vegetation damage makes the remaining vegetation more vulnerable to weeds, wind and salt
damage, and degrades and fragments the bushland, and can exacerbate coastal erosion risk.


Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves Management Plan 2023                                         Page 77


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