A DELAY in starting a coastal strategy for the Mornington Peninsula led to Mornington Peninsula Shire Council receiving $200,000 from the state government.
Despite the amount being less than half the $500,000 being sought, the shire hired consultants in January to “develop” the strategy under a two-year contract.
Details of the delay and appointment of Alluvium Consulting were outlined in a report to council on 30 May.
The report by water and coasts team leader Laura Crilly was made in response to a call by Cr Anthony Marsh for details of how $175,000 in the shire’s 2021/22 budget and $50,000 in the following year had been spent.
“Is it appropriate that we spend four to four and a half years to write a document which will guide the tasks and actions and things that we do to implement that when most of us won’t be here unless we run for another term?” he told the council’s 5 May meeting (“Strategy ‘coming’ as beaches lost” The News 9/5/23).
Marsh, who did not attend the 30 May meeting, declined to comment on Crilly’s report when contacted last week by The News about the update.
Tenders for the contract were advertised in October and November 2022, with Alluvium being appointed in January this year.
Crilly said the strategy was a “pilot project” to “identify cultural, environmental, heritage and recreation values of coastal areas; review existing hazard data, identify gaps and develop hazard assessments to “inform adaptation planning”.
It would also “identify priority sites requiring adaptation planning and provide foundations to allow for informed adaptation planning in the future”.
An initial $175,000 was allocated in the shire’s 2021/22 budget but the start of the project was delayed so the shire could apply for money from the state under the guidelines of its Resilient Coast Adapting for 2100+ program, designed to lead the way “in coastal adaptation and resilience planning for the effects of a changing climate”.
The state government subsequently provided $200,000, giving the shire $425,000 to develop its strategy.
Crilly said the delay “is also timed to ensure that the Port Phillip Bay Coastal Hazard Assessment [due to be released this month June] … is available, as this data is a key part of understanding the region’s coastal hazard exposure”.
That coastal hazard assessment being undertaken by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and looks at the possible extent and impacts of flooding, groundwater change and erosion.
Crilly said “values, vision objectives” for the peninsula’s coastline would be determined over the next two years along with understanding “our coastal hazard risk exposure and identify where our vulnerable and most at risk areas are”.
The knowledge would help “build a case” for asking the state and federal governments for money to “respond to the impacts of climate change”.
”Key elements of the coastal strategy” — including works to manage the impacts of climate change on the coast — would start in 2024.
Meanwhile, coastal works already being investigated or worked on include the instability of the Beleura cliff path at Mornington; replacing the retaining wall at Fishermans Beach, Mornington; the Hastings foreshore master plan; sections of the Peninsula Trail (Anthonys Nose and Whitecliffs); car park at Canadian Bay, Mount Eliza; a stormwater outfall at Portsea; and several foreshore camping services.
First published in the Mornington News – 13th June 2023
