Gold Coast beaches are equivalent to the best internationally and need to be maintained, protected and where necessary enhanced to ensure future generations are able to enjoy them. – Anonymous, Gold Coast City Council’s Bold Future engagement.
The Gold Coast Shoreline Management Plan (GCSMP) is a 15-year strategy that focuses on coastal physical processes, coastal ecological processes, economic values of Gold Coast beaches, community values and stakeholder engagement and the development of a beach management plan.
The purpose of the GCSMP is to ensure that beaches continue to contribute to coastal lifestyles and our tourism economy into the future, sustainably manage our sandy beach environment and develop coastal protection measures to deal with current erosion issues and forecasted effects as a result of both natural trends and climate change predictions.
The Griffith Centre for Coastal Management (GCCM) develops and promotes, at a national and international level, targeted research that contributes to all aspects of sustainable management of coastal regions. GCCM has produced a set of 77 recommendations that will assist the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) with the progression of best practice coastal management. The GCSMP features recommendations for the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the Gold Coast’s beaches. They include actions for capital works and strategies to better understand how beaches function.
GCCC has likewise been a leader in coastal management for over fifty years, driven by the need to protect our fast growing city from erosion events. The GCSMP will provide GCCC with an enhanced understanding of the natural processes of the coastline, its exposure and resilience to extreme weather events, and the community’s relationship with beaches. When implemented, the GCSMP will:
- Provide and maintain adequate beach width in critical areas
- Improve the resilience of dune areas to erosion
- Add a buffer between the beach and properties and other community infrastructure
- Improve beach amenity
The GCSMP is currently available for public viewing at the Gold Coast City Library, Southport and Broadbeach Branches.
Further information may be obtained through the Background Publications.