Kingston joins with the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) and the Association of Bayside Municipalities (ABM) in welcoming the State Government’s release of the Port Phillip Bay Coastal Hazard Assessment.
The council has been actively involved in advocating and planning for coastal climate change impacts since 2008 and had been eagerly awaiting the release of this information to further inform and refine future planning for our residents.
The report, which was five years in the making, builds on a range of existing models and studies, and combines the latest science, modelling and technical assessments to better understand current and future coastal hazards around the bay.
The council said the modelling highlights areas of Patterson Lakes and Mordialloc, along with dozens of other places around the bay, will be inundated by sea level rise and storm surges in the years to come.
Mayor Jenna Davey-Burns said Council has previously declared a climate emergency and is working hard to protect our precious environment and also mitigate the impacts of climate change that are already being felt.
“Sea level rise is an obvious and serious threat to our beautiful foreshore, and we have already been very busy in this space. Importantly, this report will allow us to understand more about the complex coastal processes of Port Phillip Bay,” Cr Davey-Burns said.
“Among the work we have already done to improve our climate resilience along the foreshore is the installation of a rock abutment in Carrum, major geotextile barriers in Aspendale, and a variety of other reinforced vegetation barriers as part of stormwater treatment swales and constructed large stormwater outlets in Mentone and Parkdale.
“The recently constructed life saving and yacht clubs have been designed to allow for the future climate and coastal processes.
“With the release of this report I join the call for the State Government to now step up and do their part and swiftly amend planning schemes to ensure they accurately reflect the known risks. There must be a whole of state response and that requires leadership to ensure a consistent approach is taken.”
Further highlighting Kingston’s commitment is the fact we have recently appointed an experienced consultant to better understand local coastal risks for our communities and foreshore assets and the data and modelling in the Port Phillip Bay Coastal Hazard Assessment will inform this vital work.
This project will in turn provide a far better understanding of the localised climate change implications for our neighbourhoods and enable community discussions on actions and next steps to progress.
Councillor Chris Hill, who is the current deputy chair of the South East Councils Climate Change Alliance, and also involved in the ABM, said that Kingston’s work in this space extends to our long-term strategies as well.
“Our housing strategy that is currently with the minister for approval and our integrated water strategy both go into detail around the risks posed by climate change and predicted sea level rises and highlight the need for resilience to be a key component of both our short and long-term planning moving forward,” Cr Hill said.
“As a bayside council with over 13 kilometres of foreshore, the economic impacts of sea level rise and storm surge present as significant issues for our coastal communities both now and into the future.”
The Port Phillip Bay Coastal Hazard Assessment Report is available at marineandcoasts.vic.gov.au/coastalprograms/port-phillip-bay-coastal-hazard-assessment
