The Sunshine Coast is known for its outstanding coastal landscapes, with beaches, dunes, headlands, estuaries and lagoons stretching from Coolum Beach in the north to Bribie Island in the south. Our coastline contributes significantly to our identity and the lifestyle we enjoy. To maintain a healthy coast, we must support its environment, liveability and built asset values. We need to ensure it is resilient to climate change impacts and supports sustainable use. To do this, Council is developing the Healthy Coast Management Plan. This is a new plan that will bring together our coastal strategies, plans and actions and guide how we manage our coast into the future.

Shoreline erosion is happening on the Sunshine Coast, and the Shoreline Erosion Management Plan addresses how Council will manage the impacts to Council controlled assets and public infrastructure on the Sunshine Coast.

The Shoreline Erosion Management Plan assesses the sustainable use and management of land vulnerable to erosion by considering the environmental, economic, social, and cultural values of the area as well as the coastal processes occurring on the foreshore.

It presents a coordinated, regionally consistent and prioritised approach to address shoreline erosion issues which allows for anticipated issues and events to be both planned and budgeted for.

The Healthy Coast Management Plan and the Shoreline Erosion Management Plan are both key coastal management plans. The Healthy Coast Management Plan captures the broader view of coastal management that includes environmental, built asset, and sustainable use priorities, while the Shoreline Erosion Management Plan focusses on coastal erosion management. As the overarching plan, the Healthy Coast Management Plan captures the key Shoreline Erosion Management Plan's management actions, with the Shoreline Erosion Management Plan containing a higher level of detail for Council’s coastal erosion management actions over the next 10 years.

Council and its partners undertake a broad range of coastal management functions and activities
that are delivered through Council wide management programs and initiatives, as listed below. Click on the links to find out more:

• Management of coastal habitats to protect and enhance natural coastal areas, including:
  • Environmental reserve management
  • Community Bushcare program
• Management of our coastal fauna, including:
  • TurtleCare program
  • Shorebird conservation
• Managing catchment impacts on coastal water quality, including:
  • Erosion and sediment control program
  • Stormwater management
  • Waterway health monitoring
• Managing marine pollution along our coastline including:
  • Local disaster management
  • Beach clean-up program
  • Flammable and combustible substance spills
  • Marine stranding response
• Coastal hazard response guided by the Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy and Shoreline Erosion Management Plan
• Design and delivery of coastal place revitalisation activities guided by Sunshine Coast Design
• Design, maintenance and management of Council’s public open space for active and passive recreation, including:
  • Recreational park management
  • Coastal pathway
  • Street tree planting
• Design, planning and management of coastal-based active transport infrastructure, guided by the Active Transport Plan
• Protecting public health and the environment, including:
  • Pest plant and animal management
  • Controlling mosquitoes and biting midges
  • Regulating pollution (light, dust, odour, spray drift, smoke and stormwater)
• Maintaining and regulating local amenity through local laws, including:
  • Domestic animal management
  • Permitted events in open space
  • Permitted commercial activities in open space
  • Regulated parking
  • Abandoned vehicles
• Management of First Nations and European heritage values in partnership with stakeholders
• Regular patrolling of beaches to ensure the safety and enjoyment of residents and visitors
• Guiding coastal development and supporting local businesses and promoting a Healthy Coast and open space networks as part of a world-class destination in building a strong economy
• Undertake broad and targeted coastal communications and community engagement and education to enhance awareness and participation in coastal management, including the Coastal discovery van.

All areas of the foreshore along the Sunshine Coast are prone to erosion, with open sandy beach generally being the most affected. The Shoreline Erosion Management Plan addresses known and emerging erosion issues along the coast that are likely to require some form of intervention over the next 10 years.

The Shoreline Erosion Management Plan breaks the coast up into 38 management units. All units are subject to coast wide actions and (of these 38 units) 15 are noted as having priority actions.

'Coast wide actions' are management actions that apply across the whole of the coast and are already part of our ongoing management. Amongst other things they include regular monitoring and maintenance, dune management, and maintenance of beach access points. They apply to all units in addition to any priority actions.

Coast units that have been identified as carrying a priority erosion issue have been classified as having 'priority actions'. In-depth, site-specific management options have been evaluated and recommended for these units to ensure coastal management actions are cost effective and fit for purpose.

Factors that informed the development of the 'priority actions' are as follows:

• the consideration of management approach in the Coastal Hazard Adaptation Strategy (CHAS)
• review of uncompleted actions from the previous Shoreline Erosion Management Plan
• an estimate of residual life for aging structures
• consideration of management options
• assessment of option feasibility, viability and acceptability
• an options appraisal
• a stakeholder review.

From this, the final management action was decided upon based on whether the action:

• fit within budgetary constraints
• would comply with statutory and policy requirements at Local, State and Commonwealth levels of Government
• is environmentally acceptable and consistent with Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) principles
• is feasible in engineering terms, i.e., will ensure a structure can realistically be built and maintained, given the local processes context
• can address the identified issues, mitigating risks or enhancing opportunities, based on previous experience
• is adaptive and can transition to alternative approaches when circumstances change
• is broadly able to be implemented, in terms of available capacity and capability.

The Shoreline Erosion Management Plan has an adaptive pathways approach. This allows current erosion issues to be addressed, however, keeps options open and avoids commitments to areas where ongoing erosion problems are not realised. Rather than specifying timeframes for engineering interventions, the plan incorporates trigger levels to help identify when actions need to be considered. This allows Council to plan for, prioritise, and stagger investment when it is needed. For areas where coastal erosion issues do not evolve, it will allow Council to delay actions and follow a new strategy that may change over time.