Environmental changes threaten coastal homes


Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Broadcast: 21/09/2010

Reporter: Lisa Whitehead

It's estimated that a quarter of a million homes will be at risk from rising sea levels and increasing storms, and the decisions about the changing Australian environment are often made by the courts.


TRACY BOWDEN, PRESENTER: Lately it seems if Australians aren't fighting bushfires, they're battling floodwaters. These extreme weather events are predicted to become both more frequent and more severe, with the impact of climate change posing complex planning questions for all levels of government. In coastal areas, it's predicted around a quarter of million Australian homes will be at risk from rising sea levels and increased storm surges. But so far, the courts seem to be making the hard decisions, with the recent Victorian ruling shattering one family's dream and potentially threatening hundreds of millions of dollars of coastal development. Lisa Whitehead reports.

LISA WHITEHEAD, REPORTER: With its pristine beaches and picture postcard scenery, the tranquil environment of Lakes Entrance is a mecca for tourists and retirees. But a storm is brewing over the Victorian town's future.

JOE TANTARNO, ARCHITECT: We're at a point where it's become almost impossible to predict what can or cannot be built.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Four years ago, local painting contractor Frank Strini and his family bought this run-down waterfront house and the adjacent vacant lot with a plan to build eight townhouses.

FRANK STRINI, LANDOWNER: As you can see around the area that there's developments like this on both sides of the spit.

LISA WHITEHEAD: The local shire and the Catchment Management Authority initially approved the Strini family's application to build. But after an objection was lodged, the case ended up before Victoria's peak planning tribunal, VCAT.

In a decision that sent shockwaves through the town, the tribunal revoked the permit. It was highly critical of the council, saying it had essentially ignored the risks to the development from predicted sea level rise and the impact of climate change.

FRANK STRINI: We're just in disbelief really. And the same as the community here, they say the same thing: just a lack of - just a disbelief in the whole process of it.

CRAIG INGRAM, GIPPSLAND EAST MP: Effectively what it's done is it's really has taken the economic certainty and the investment certainty out of these towns.

LISA WHITEHEAD: It's the latest in a number of landmark court decisions around the country blocking development based on the impact of climate change. In Victoria, it's the first time a small-scale development has been knocked back. The East Gippsland Shire claims the ruling common sense.

STEVE KOZLOWSKI, CEO, EAST GIPPSLAND SHIRE: The decision to not allow something to happen today because of something that might happen in 90 years' time is a bit like having a sledgehammer to crack a walnut.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Three hours drive east of Melbourne, Lakes Entrance sits on a man-made channel linking to it to the Gippsland Lakes on one side and Bass Strait on the other, making it vulnerable to inundation. This photograph shows the Strini property surrounded by floodwaters three years ago.

PETER WHEELER, RESEARCHER: It's a flood-prone area due to not just water coming up over the low-lying land, but also due to some infrastructure issues, like for example the stormwater layer. The stormwater acts as a conduit for the floodwaters to flow into the inner townscape area.

LISA WHITEHEAD: A Monash University research project modelled predictions of what could happen to the town as sea levels rise. The Strini's proposed floor heights were above the existing flood level and they'd added another 80 centimetres to account for predicted sea level rise by the year 2100. But the tribunal ruled this wasn't enough, saying the development could still pose a risk to residents and emergency personnel and this low-lying area shouldn't be built up any further.

CRAIG INGRAM: Even if you build it above the 2100 level, you can't build because of the infrastructure, the plumbing, the power and the other underground facilities that you put in place. They're also saying that you can't increase the capacity of the block. There's a real projection going forward that towns like this will look pretty tired in 20 years' time.

LISA WHITEHEAD: The tribunal criticised the East Gippsland Shire for deferring the difficult decisions, when it said the Victorian Government had clearly directed planning authorities to consider the impact of climate change. But the council CEO says it can't be expected to go it alone.

STEVE KOZLOWSKI: The level of information and guidance by governments for councils isn't complete in regards to how sea level rise ought to be dealt with and it's not simply the case that council can blindly put a line around a map and say, "This - we think this might be vulnerable, but we're not quite sure."

LISA WHITEHEAD: Alan Stokes, chair of the National Sea Change Taskforce representing Australia's coastal councils, says its members are caught between a rock and a hard place.

ALAN STOKES, NATIONAL SEA CHANGE TASKFORCE: The councils are damned if they do and they're damned if they don't. If they issue a permit, then that permit is likely to be challenged before the appeals tribunal or the Land and Environment Court. If they don't issue a permit, then that refusal is also likely to be subject to a legal challenge.

LISA WHITEHEAD: Last month, NSW became the first state to introduce detailed coastal planning laws. Councils are urged to reject development and rezoning in defined at risk areas, with the NSW Government warning those who ignore the guidelines do so at their peril.

BRUCE THOM, AUSTRALIAN COASTAL SOCIETY: Councils that do not take in good faith consideration of those risks associated with those hazards, yes, they're likely to be seen to be liable in the future. And that's a major issue for councils.

ALAN STOKES: It is a very difficult issue for the courts to deal with. It's equally a very difficult issue for local councils in coastal areas to deal with because they're daily faced with having to make decisions which would impact on development in these areas.

LISA WHITEHEAD: The Victorian Government is expected to follow NSW and release its coastal planning laws by the end of the year, but coastal councils are also calling for the Federal Government to act. A parliamentary report into the impact of climate change on coastal communities was delivered late last year, making 47 recommendations.

ALAN STOKES: We sincerely hope that they will respond to these recommendations as a matter of urgency because the communities of coastal Australia are depending on it.

LISA WHITEHEAD: One of the reasons for the slow evolution of planning laws to deal with climate change is because inevitably there will be some big losers.

BRUCE THOM: This is one of the difficulties that our society will face and it will not just be those at Lakes Entrance, it will be in many, many parts of Australia and it will become more and more evident as time goes on that the cost will have to be borne by society as a whole, but particular landowners.

LISA WHITEHEAD: The Strini family has already spent $600,000 on interest payments, planning costs and legal fees, with no prospect of compensation and no certainty about the future.

FRANK STRINI: Ethically, I can't sell it. I mean, it's worth realistically nothing at the moment. So, I mean, it wouldn't be just to sell a property that knowing that, at the end of the day, you can't do anything with.

TRACY BOWDEN: That report from Lisa Whitehead.

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