Dogs on beaches and beach access have topped the list of issues raised by residents who voiced their opinions this week during Noosa Council’s community consultation for its Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan.
Council is calling on the community to provide feedback on the way Noosa’s Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves are managed and is garnering public opinion through a series of information sessions, workshops, beach pop-ups and online.
At a pop-up at Peregian Beach on Tuesday council’s environment officer Melissa Coyle said feedback from residents had focused on issues surrounding the access of dogs on beaches and facilities for dogs. People also raised issues about general beach access and dune erosion around beach access areas.
When the foreshore management plan was raised in council last year, much discussion focused on encroachment by private property owners on to council-owned land.
However Deputy Mayor Frank Wilkie said council planned to develop a separate policy regarding encroachment on to council land that would apply shire-wide.
The Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves (EBFRs) are a series of eight naturally vegetated council-managed coastal foreshore reserves and near-coastal bushland reserves stretching more than 11.5km from Sunshine to Peregian beaches and covering about 122 hectares.
The draft Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan outlines the importance of these reserves, the community and environmental values of these reserves and the threats they face.
“Our goal in this Plan is to provide a guide for sound decision-making that protects all of these values,” Mayor Clare Stewart said.
“To ensure the reserves are protected for future generations to enjoy, we’re formalising, in consultation with the community, how we look after these natural assets.”
Council environment and sustainable development director Kim Rawlings said mitigating coastal hazards and other climate change risks was fundamental to the plan.
“We’ll continue to see the effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels, more intense and frequent storms and coastal erosion,” she said.
“The reserves play a key role in protecting Noosa residents from the impact of these changes, with their natural vegetation and landforms providing a natural buffering between the foreshores and our communities.”
The plan will also inform aspects of Council’s Environment Strategy and Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan.
Residents can read the draft Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserve Management Plan and submit feedback online at yoursay.noosa.qld.gov.au or visit the council booths across the shire at the following locations:
Beach Pop-Ups, 7-11am:
Thursday 2 March – Beach access 36, Tingira Crescent, Sunrise Beach.
Thursday 9 March – Beach Access 40, David Low Way, Castaways Beach.
Saturday 11 March – Beach Access 27, Seaview Terrace, Sunshine Beach.
Wednesday 15 March – Beach Access 50, Peregian, Esplanade.
Thursday 16 March – Beach Access 47, Tristania Drive, Marcus Beach.
Community events:
6.30am – noon Saturday 4 March, Pomona Markets.
8am – noon Sunday 5 March , Kin Kin Markets.
8am – 2pm Sunday 12 March, Noosa Marina Markets [TBC].
7.30am – 12.3 pm Sunday 19 March, Peregian Beach Markets.
