By Abbey Cannan
Noosa Council has successfully received an extension to hit pause on its completion of the Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan (CHAP).
This follows criticism from a newly formed Noosa residents group fighting to fix the draft CHAP, demanding more work tackling coastal erosion not “buck passing to residents“.
The six-week public consultation period finished on Monday 8 March, with Council receiving over 200 responses.
Council was granted an extension from the Local Government Association of Queensland, who is coordinating the implementation of the QCoast program on behalf of the State Government.
Mayor Clare Stewart said the volume of submissions coupled with the level of detail, Council considered more time was needed to ensure the right outcome for the community is achieved.
“We want to ensure Council achieves a sensible and measured response to managing coastal hazard risks now and into the future,” she said.
“Council staff have been granted special permission to delay submitting the CHAP so we can ensure all submissions are appropriately reviewed and given due regard,” she said.
“There are strong opinions and concerns by some sections of the community and it is imperative that we have enough time to work through these,” she said.
“We are using this additional time to explore workable solutions put forward by stakeholders.”
Cr Stewart reiterated that Council has heard the community and was committed to reaching solutions that are workable
Noosa Council has developed a coastal hazards adaptation plan as part of the state’s QCoast2100 program.
“We have certainly been transparent about this plan and provided significant detail, much more than most other councils in Queensland,” Cr Stewart.
Noosa is one of 32 Queensland councils developing coastal hazards adaptation plans with the funding from the state.
“We certainly appreciate that the State Government and Local Government Association of Queensland has given us additional time to ensure the final result is what’s best for Noosa,” Cr Stewart said.
This comes after the Eastern Beaches Protection Association (EBPA) lodged a submission to Council, followed by letters to Noosa Shire Councillors, challenging them to explain their knowledge and involvement in Council sending a letter to the Queensland Government on 29 July last year, “asking permission to implement the changes to the Noosa Plan, without informing residents“.
EBPA spokesperson Minna Knight said key concerns about the current draft CHAP included it having no measures to tackle beach erosion and inundation or justification for imposing adverse planning changes on a less than one per cent risk of a significant impact in 50 to 80 years from now.
“We want to see Council go back and review the draft CHAP so that it actually protects our beaches and low lying areas – something many submissions actually agree with – while monitoring potentially impacted land over time and stepping back from costly pre-emptive planning measures that unnecessarily hurt homeowners and did nothing to protect our iconic beaches.”
