Busselton looks at costly coast plans

Busselton City council will consider spending $400,000 developing a 25-year coastal protection plan for its entire northern coast after a report this week detailed significant projected impacts from coastal erosion and sea level rise.

The Coastal Adaptation Planning report revealed updated coastal erosion modelling and findings from the Peron Naturaliste Partnerships study collaboratively undertaken by local governments in the region.

The study found the value of assets at risk to increased coastal erosion and sea level rise within the Peron Naturaliste region was about $1.2 billion.

Hazard mapping and region wide assessment for the PNP’s Coastal Adaptation Pathways Project found about 800 hectares of residential land would be subject to an increase in flooding risk from a one in 100 year event to 1 in 500 year event by 2070.

The project found a strip roughly 200 metres wide was at risk from erosion along the whole extent of the coastline by 2110 and the value of the affected assets along that strip of coastline was about $1.2 billion.

A Coastal Adaptation Planning case study at Siesta Park-Marybrook identified development of multiple small groynes as the most advantageous adaptation option.

The least advantageous option was multiple small seawalls for each property.

The report said potential financial implications for the City from coastal adaptation would be significant, with spending on coastal protection currently averaged at $177,000 per annum excluding major capital works such as the Busselton foreshore seawall.

The projected balance for the City of Busselton’s coastal protection fund at the end of the 2014/2015 financial year is $1.2m.

The Coastal Adaptation Planning report proposed draft ‘pathways’ for coastal adaption, including the option to develop and cost a 25-year coastal protection plan from Curtis Bay to Wonnerup which would likely consist of a mixture of geo-textile groynes, seawalls and beach nourishment which would be expanded and upgraded progressively.

The report also proposed a number of shorter term options, including updated coastal erosion modelling and amendments to the town planning scheme and property information certificates around potentially erosion vulnerable coastal areas as well as the preparation of a dedicated coastal planning local planning policy.

At the City of Busselton council meeting on Wednesday night Mayor Ian Stubbs moved that the City’s chief executive make comprehensive submissions to the Federal and State Governments for funding assistance towards the 25 year coastal protection plan and report to council before March 31, 2015.

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