New body to help councils with access to coastal research

An Australian Coastal Alliance is being formed to provide coastal councils with improved access to information that will assist them in making informed decisions on coastal management.

A steering committee has been put in place to form the alliance – the committee consists of the National Sea Change Taskforce, the CSIRO, the Local Government Association of Queensland representing state local government associations, natural resource management bodies, and academics from universities in Queensland and Western Australia.

The Executive Officer of the National Sea Change Taskforce, Alan Stokes, says the alliance has been charged with providing an effective interface between coastal councils and coastal research providers.

Mr Stokes says there is valuable information available to help councils develop coastal planning and management policy and procedures, but the information is not always easy to find.

He says better access to the data will provide local government with valuable resources that can be used to tackle the challenge of climate change when managing development.

The alliance will also work with Victoria University to determine the cost to local government of climate change adaptation. The work is expected to take at least six months, and will involve surveying local governments.   Most of the work will focus on public infrastructure because of local government’s key role in developing and maintaining infrastructure. It is anticipated that the study will be complicated because councils are responsible for different areas of infrastructure from state to state, particularly infrastructure related to the treatment of sewage and water.

Mr Stokes believes the results of the study may well come as a shock for local government which is the tier of government that receives the most meager percentage of taxation revenue in Australia.