Margie Maccoll
Encroachment by property owners on to council-managed land dominated much of the discussion surrounding the draft Eastern Beaches Foreshore Management Plan (EBFMP) at council’s General Meeting on Monday.
Officers said satellite mapping had revealed 90 per cent of residents’ properties neighbouring nature reserves along the eastern beaches foreshore had yard extensions into the reserve, with some extending 40-50m into the foreshore.
The significance of the identified encroachment was recently raised in council with a deputation from community groups and a petition calling for zero tolerance of encroachment and immediate action be taken to rectify it.
In response, the draft plan has included in its budget the creation of an encroachment policy that would be expended shire-wide and implementation with the financial investment of $415,000 per annum to cover implementation, site rehabilitation and legal costs.
Cr Brian Stockwell raised the possibility of creating a ranger program to deal with encroachment that included roles as both educator and compliance officer.
He said through “educative compliance“ residents could come to understand encroaching onto the foreshore would put their properties at greater risk of erosion from storms, cyclones and climate change.
The EBFMP was established to describe the social and environmental values of the seven Eastern Beaches Foreshore Reserves from Peregian to Sunshine Beach and identify management issues and actions to maintain those values in the future, by providing a practical guide for management decisions.
It was set up in response to a community call for nature-based coastal hazards and climate change risk mitigation activities determined by public consultation for the Noosa Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan 2021.
The need to manage the ecosystem health of Noosa’s coastal environments was also identified as a priority in the Noosa Environment Strategy 2019 and Noosa Bushland Reserves Strategic Management Plan 2021 – 2026.
With 11 bush care groups and two surf lifesaving organisations covering the eastern beaches are council staff said they expected considerable input on the draft plan when it goes out for public consultation in February 2023.
“We want people to have the ability to put what they want into the process,“ officers said.
Mayor Clare Stewart questioned the plan’s budget of only $25,000 per annum toward an emergency restoration fund in response to weather events, saying more may be needed to deal just with erosion from stormwater and wastewater runoff at Burgess Creek.
But the officer said council was putting together a separate Burgess Creek management plan.
Joe Jurisevic suggested the EBFMP would be “missing out“ if it excluded the Burgess Creek plan.
Council CEO Scott Waters said while the EBFMP was a draft such issues could be “fleshed out“ during the consultation period, which is expected to take place in February.
A final decision on the draft will be made at council’s Ordinary Meeting on Thursday evening.
