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2004-2007 National Sea Change Taskforce
Planning for Climate Change Research Report Now Available
The Planning for Climate Change research report has been prepared for the National Sea Change Taskforce by Associate Professor Nicole Gurran, of the Faculty of Architecture Design and Planning at The University of Sydney, together with Associate Professor Elisabeth Hamin of the University of Massachusetts and Dr Barbara Norman, of the Global Cities Institute at RMIT University.
The report notes that coastal areas are exposed to particular risks associated with climate change and these risks represent a range of social and economic consequences for coastal communities which are exacerbated by existing socio-economic disadvantage and an aging population profile.
The research team found that while climate change is increasingly recognised by Commonwealth and State governments in Australia as a critical issue for coastal communities, few local planning schemes include specific provisions for climate change adaptation or mitigation, apart from controls relating to sea level rise in Western Australia and South Australia.
The report makes a number of recommendations to enhance practice in planning for climate change across sea change communities in coastal Australia, including:
That all State and territorial planning authorities enact high level planning policy to ‘mainstream’ climate change mitigation and adaptation considerations in all coastal planning decisions;
That coastal councils undertake an initial vulnerability assessment of the potential risks of climate change, capacity of existing systems to adapt to these impacts, and potential to introduce new adaptation strategies;
That a formal climate change vulnerability assessment be undertaken at regional or local scales to support strategic land use planning decisions and significant development assessment in coastal areas.