Coastal and Marine Management Plan
- Project statusProject Steering Committee meetings underway
- Last updatedFebruary 2023
About the project
The Borough’s coasts are special places. They’re among our most popular recreational spaces and tourist attractions, while also playing an important environmental role. To ensure our coasts are managed in a way that protects and preserves these features, we’re developing a long-term Coastal and Marine Management Plan.
Council's draft Coastal and Marine Management Plan is now available to view.(PDF, 5MB) Compiled with the input of more than 270 consultation respondents, the Plan defines the Borough’s relationship with the coast in the face of climate change, erosion and other coastal hazards. It provides a roadmap for how we’ll use, manage and protect our coastal landscapes, helping to ensure individual developments or changes on the coast are considered strategically and in line with community priorities.
Consultation on the draft plan closed at 11:59pm on 13 February 2022.
Understanding the Marine and Coastal Act
The Marine and Coastal Act 2018 (also known as MACA) was introduced by the Victorian Government in August 2018 to provide a simpler, more integrated and coordinated approach to planning marine and coastal environment.
The new Act does this by:
- enabling protection of the coastline and the ability to address the long-term challenges of climate change, population growth and ageing coastal structures; and
- ensuring that partners work together to achieve the best outcomes for Victoria’s marine and coastal environment.
Why Council needs its own plan
Currently, the Borough of Queenscliffe must apply for specific consent with regards to MACA from the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning whenever any use, development or works is requested on marine and coastal Crown land.
This includes such well-loved locations as the Point Lonsdale Lighthouse Reserve and Shortland's Bluff, but also includes any Crown land up to 200 metres inland of the high water mark of Victorian coastal waters. In an area surrounded by water, like our Borough, that means a lot.
By preparing our own Coastal Management Plan specific to MACA, Council can streamline the application process on future projects, resulting in faster turnaround times and more regular maintenance and regeneration of our most treasured local sites.
Thumbnail image credit: Shivapratap Gopakumar (CC BY-NC 2.0)