Nick Hluszko

NICK HLUSZKO QUESTION 1 How does Council justify to ratepayers the need and cost of the Coastsnap monitoring station on Noosa Hill when all of the data collected exists free of charge and is available to all on government websites free of charge? How much did Council pay for the station and how much does it pay annually for the program including associated costs including all partners (inc. drone mapping Al, Dr. Leon. et al each year and on what basis? Where can the collected Coastsnap data be seen by the community or is this data confidential? Answer provided by Kim Rawlings, Director Strategy & Environment We thank Mr. Hluszko for the thoughtful question about the CoastSnap monitoring station at Noosa Hill. As identified in Noosa’s endorsed Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan which is a public document available on Council’s website, there is a strong need for localised and long-term data collection of Noosa’s dynamic coastline. This data collection needs to integrate multiple datasets to inform robust decision-making, as well as ensure transparency and accountability on the results and analysis from monitoring efforts. With regard to your first question, coastlines are highly dynamic systems influenced by numerous factors, including storm events, long-term erosion, sediment transport, human development and climate change impacts such as sea level rise. While Council continues to use useful tools like Digital Earth Australia (DEA) Coastlines available for free from Geoscience Australia for valuable data and insights into annual shoreline change, the tool is not sufficient on its own for managing Noosa’s complex coastal systems as it is a continental dataset that focuses on annual shoreline positions and rates of change at a broad national scale. Effective management of a locally-specific, complex coastal system like that in Noosa requires higher spatial and temporal resolution data and a diverse set of indicators to capture change and inform decision-making. For example, localised data collection can capture event-scale changes (e.g. pre and post storms) which are critical for coastal management and timely responses. The annual shoreline estimates from satellites can also be impacted by environmental factors, including clouds, breaking waves, sea spray. Whilst these free datasets are useful, tools like CoastSnap (community photos), ground surveys, LiDAR elevation mapping, bathymetry, and drones (high-resolution imagery) provide complementary information about beach width, dune stability, vegetation cover, sand movement, seabed topography, and water depth, which the DEA datasets cannot measure alone. Integrating a diversity of monitoring technologies and indicators creates a comprehensive understanding of the coastline. Using a variety of broad scale and localised datasets and monitoring approaches allows Council to create a robust and diverse dataset, ensuring decisions about beach renourishment, dune restoration, or erosion mitigation are informed by local, precise, and reliable data. Ensuring localised data collection was one of the strongest pieces of feedback received from community during the CHAP consultation process, and thus, the reason why it is a high priority action as we continue to implement the CHAP. With regard to your second question, the costs of the CoastSnap monitoring station and associated programs are relatively modest, particularly when compared to the value they bring in engaging the public in understanding coastal management, crowd-sourcing data, protecting Noosa’s coastline (where a majority of the population lives) and avoiding costly future damage. The Sunshine Beach CoastSnap station cost $2,420 incl GST to establish through UNSW’s world- renowned Water Research Laboratory. Annual shoreline mapping and beach width trend analysis using the data collected is voluntary, and not a requirement of establishing a CoastSnap station. This costs between $5,000 - $6,200 per year (depending on inclusions), should Council choose to continue to obtain analyses every year. These investments are important for building a local evidence base to manage Noosa’s coastline sustainably and proactively. Thus far, the total annual coastal hazard monitoring budget of $80,000 has been leveraged to bring in roughly $495,000 in grant funds from State and Federal sources to advance further coastal monitoring and modelling, demonstrating strong value for money and saving ratepayer costs. While Council partners with University of Sunshine Coast’s Dr. Javier Leon on other aspects of its coastal monitoring program, Dr. Leon kindly dedicated his time free of charge to help establish the CoastSnap station and educate students on the citizen science program. With regard to your final question, all images remain the property of the individuals taking the photos. By uploading images to the website or app, the individuals agree that UNSW and Council have an ongoing and distributable royalty free licence to make use of the images for coastal monitoring and research. As such, the Coastsnap data is held by UNSW and shared with Council. The results of the monitoring are not confidential and are intended to be actively used to inform and engage the community. The shoreline mapping and beach width trend report for the first year of monitoring was commissioned by UNSW and is being reviewed. Council intends to share the report on its website and celebrate the key citizen science contributors through a media release in the near future. Further comment from Cr Brian Stockwell I concur with the informative response prepared by staff . Further, I can advise that CoastSnap is a global citizen science program designed to monitor coastal changes, developed in Australia by the University of New South Wales' Water Research Laboratory. By involving the public in monitoring the coast, CoastSnap provides an effective way to raise awareness of coastal issues and engage the community in scientific research. The program is simple and accessible, with no fee and no registration required for volunteers to participate in the Coastal Monitoring Program. The key to this project is the involvement of our community. Citizen science takes a big task like monitoring long-term change in our coastline and breaks it down so that anyone, any non-professional can take part. In turn, we effectively crowdsource the data collection task, while providing the benefit of engaging, upskilling and creating a sense of stewardship amongst the community. As highlighted in the peer-reviewed study by the scientists behind DEA Coastlines (Bishop-Taylor et al. 2021), independent datasets from diverse monitoring sources were critical to validate the accuracy and precision of DEA Coastlines. Noosa’s monitoring program continues to support these independent datasets to provide higher-resolution, localised, and validated data for decision-making, which can then in turn help to improve national data tools like DEA Coastlines. The CoastSnap monitoring station at Sunshine Beach provides valuable data for Noosa Council's response to climate change impacts on the local coastline. With the help of citizens, coastal experts are able to monitor changes in the coastline over time, helping to inform decisions on coastal management and contribute to the protection of Noosa Shire's beautiful beaches QUESTION 2 Council continues to model major Coastal erosion risk to Q2100 along the Eastern Beaches and the Noosa North Shore (loss of land away from an area of the shore in an extreme risk sense). Given the cost of living crisis and increasing inability for many ratepayers to get affordable insurance, how does Council justify and explain to the ratepayer the costs of such modelling when the most current IPCC report and all historical evidence over the past 36 years in all areas (except that between the river mouth north to first cutting because of river mouth changes and dredging and more than likely Burgess Creek where coastal erosion is not the direct cause) does not provide any empirical evidence of historical nor current erosion and in fact, totally contradicts Council's models? Why isn't Council being held accountable for its flawed projections which seriously and negatively impact all property owners? Answer provided by Kim Rawlings, Director Strategy & Environment Thank you again for the thoughtful question. In summary, evidence from the IPCC, CSIRO, BOM, and Geoscience Australia indicate that even though observations of sea level rise’s signature on coastal erosion are limited on our coasts to date, this does not mean that this trend will continue into the future as pressures grow. In fact, all scientific bodies acknowledge that the projected impacts of sea level rise includes accelerated risks of coastal inundation, storm surge, erosion and saltwater intrusion into groundwater systems. Additionally, sea level rise from climate change is required to be considered in planning and development assessment by the State Planning Policy’s State Interest for Natural Hazards. Council has a recognised responsibility and duty of care to provide up to date and accurate hazard information to inform community of the potential risks (based on the best available data and methods at the time) to help improve resilience and adaptive capacity. Council’s modelling of coastal erosion in the Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan is based on the methodology outlined by the Queensland Government’s Coastal Hazard Technical Guide (2013). Council continues to work closely with QLD’s Dept of Environment, Science, Tourism and Innovation to ensure that its coastal erosion calculation relies on best-practice and the latest science, as well as up to date, locally-specific data collected through its long-term coastal monitoring program which improves the accuracy of the hazard modelling. In addition to the above, a number of references are provided for further interest. Chapter 11 of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report of Working Group 2, Table Box 11.6.1 which outlines both the observed, and projected impacts from higher mean sea level, stating that these outlined impacts are being further “compounded by climate-related changes in waves, storm surge, rising water tables, river flows and alterations in sediment delivery to the coast (medium confidence). The net effect is projected to increase erosion on sedimentary coastlines and flood in low- lying coastal areas.” Chapter 11, Table Box 11.6.2 of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report of Working Group 2 which shows both an acceleration of the rate of sea level rise in recent decades, and projected impacts on coastal infrastructure, residential buildings and public council assets The ‘Coasts’ chapter of the 2021 Australia State of the Environment Report issued by the Federal Government recognising that “current levels of erosion, recession and inundation of Australian coasts are dynamic but stable. However, sea level rise is expected to significantly increase these threats for all regions of Australia.” CSIRO/BOM’s 2024 State of the Climate report outlining projected changes including: “more frequent extreme sea levels linked to coastal inundation and coastal erosion” Insurance Council of Australia’s 2021 Actions of the Sea report recognising that “Actions of the Sea” such as coastal erosion are not typically covered in insurance policies “due to the inevitable nature of the risk to exposed properties” Queensland State of the Environment Report 2020 which outlines the implications of sea level rise on planning and State Interests.