NSW government looking into treaty deals for Indigenous people
A private boatshed to be built in the Mornington Peninsula has become a flashpoint for Victorian councils trying to juggle coastal development with rising sea levels. While the issue is often spoken about as a problem for the future, it's one which authorities are having to dealing with right now.
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00:00 It's high and dry at the moment, but this slope at Asorento Beach is likely to be underwater
00:06 within 80 years.
00:08 Despite that, it'll soon be home to a new boatshed.
00:11 It sets a dangerous precedent because it allows development on areas where there shouldn't
00:15 be development now because of sea level rises.
00:18 Mornington Council had objected to the development, but Victoria's Planning Tribunal approved
00:23 the boatshed, agreeing it would be impacted by rising seas, but noting nearby structures
00:28 would too.
00:29 If we're going to not literally draw a line in the sand here, when do we draw that?
00:33 When do we start taking the responsible decision to stop allowing development on the coast?
00:38 The boatshed has become a flashpoint in the ongoing debate around how coastal councils
00:43 deal with rising seas, and the costs it will incur.
00:47 A report from the Victorian Marine and Coastal Council found an expected 0.8 metre sea level
00:52 rise by the year 2100 would cost the state $442 billion, impacting more than 80,000 existing
01:00 coastal and bayside properties.
01:02 I suspect all of us would like the Victorian coast to be natural and usable as a coastal
01:08 space for us.
01:10 So we're faced with some really difficult decisions in the next, I say, two to three
01:15 decades.
01:16 Low-lying towns will bear the brunt of higher seas during storms, particularly on the Bellarine
01:21 Peninsula.
01:23 In Barwon Heads, storm surges already threaten some parts of the town.
01:27 In neighbouring Point Lonsdale, current impacts will also be far harder to manage.
01:32 The state government requires councils to prepare for a sea level rise of 0.8 metres,
01:37 but councils say they could better manage coastal development if that requirement was
01:41 increased to the latest international estimates of 1.2 metres.
01:46 It's huge what we're actually facing.
01:48 Really do you think we need to be starting to have that conversation with our community
01:52 about what the future of our coast looks like?
01:55 The battle over a little boat shed in Sorrento has become emblematic of a much bigger fight
01:59 confronting coastal communities.
02:01 While rising sea levels has often been seen as a problem for the future, it's become
02:05 an issue the state will have to face sooner rather than later.
02:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]