Our Cairns Coast FAQs

Coastal hazard adaptations are actions that eliminate or limit the risks posed by a coastal hazard (i.e. sea level rise, storm tide inundation and coastal erosion). Adaptation can involve many small steps over time or major transformation with rapid change.  Actions can include those taken to avoid risk, accommodate risk, maintain risk or protect against the risk and, plan to retreat from risk.

The Our Cairns Coast Strategy has been prepared by Council to better understand current and future coastal hazards and how they might impact our coastal environments, lifestyle and communities. It sets the direction and key priority actions for Council, stakeholders and our communities to proactively plan, prepare and respond to coastal hazard risks over time so that we can continue to enjoy our special and highly valued coastal lifestyle and ensure that the values we hold about our region can be maintained as much as possible into the future.

We improve our resilience by strengthening our understanding of current and future risk, better management of risk, and improving how we prepare for, respond to and recover from coastal hazard events. The strategy sets out strategic adaptation options that ranges from  from continuing to use and maintain assets where the risk is assessed as low; modifying the environment where the risk profile is acceptable or tolerable, or the staged relocation or repositioning of assets in specific areas that have an intolerable exposure to high risk.

Local adaptation option pathways have been prepared for 14 coastal localities.  Many of the actions identified will need to be further investigated over time and refined based on community attitudes at the time and the ongoing monitoring of coastal processes.

Cairns Regional Council has no control over how insurance providers calculate insurance prices. Insurance is a contract re-evaluated annually and there are many factors that an insurance provider may take into account when determining insurance costs. These factors include, but are not limited to, consideration of past events and the likelihood of events occurring and damaging property in the term of the policy period.

It is important to remember, much of the data captured in this study is not new and is already publicly available to insurers, financiers and investors. The Queensland Government actively shares natural hazard information to improve certainty about hazard extent areas and to assist insurance providers deliver more accurate and affordable premiums for policyholders.

Property valuation is a subjective, rather than an objective, science influenced by a range of factors. The occurrence of extreme events that damage property and development controls placed on areas identified as subject to coastal hazard risks, are not the only factors that will influence a property’s value. Other influential factors include external elements such as location and amenity, as well as specific details such as supply and demand. Market conditions alter over time.

Property buyers have a responsibility to fully understand the conditions of the land they are buying. Recognising, addressing and adapting to coastal hazard risks are key to taking an informed approach and avoiding real damages to property and property values.

The adaptation actions presented in the Our Cairns Coast strategy are linked to current and projected sea level rise and erosion triggers at 20-year intervals from 2020 to 2100.  The different adaptation actions have been informed by technical analysis as well as engagement with Council officers, stakeholders and the community and a multi-criteria analysis (MCA).  A key feature of the strategy is that it prompts management responses when certain sea-level rise trigger levels are met and is not strictly time-bound.  This means new actions will be implemented when needed, and we can monitor change and impacts over time to respond accordingly.

The draft strategy does not change any of the current planning controls contained in the CairnsPlan 2016 (the planning scheme). New development is regulated by the CairnsPlan 2016 (the planning scheme). State legislation, through the State Planning Policy 2017, requires all Councils to consider the potential impacts of coastal hazards in order to make effective and informed land use planning and development decisions.

The Our Cairns Coast strategy provides strategic direction about the locations where land use planning considerations will need to form part of a response to coastal hazard risks.  The outcomes of this strategy and implications for future land use and development policy will be considered as part of a future planning scheme amendment process and will be subject of further consultation with the community.

For the purposes of this strategy, risk is the combination of likelihood (or how often we think a coastal hazard may occur) and the consequence of it occurring (or what are the social, economic and environmental effects of those hazards).

Recent global events, available science and government policy at local, State and Commonwealth levels across supports the need to plan for climate change-related effects. This strategy is part of the effort to understand what climate change means to Cairns and to put actions in place to help us adapt and respond to the challenges as they eventuate.

By being proactive we are able to consider the options which are most useful and cause the least impact to our community and their values as possible.  The strategy provides a roadmap for the future and will help to ensure that Cairns remains a viable and vibrant coastal city open to tourism and emerging business opportunities.  Importantly having a strategy will help to shore up confidence of investors and tourists, both critical to the region.

This strategy will help to:

• protect and plan for coastal impacts to our community, property, environment and valued areas
• be prepared and take early action before impacts worsen
• give financial certainty to investment
• reduce recovery costs for Council and the community
• know what adaptation options will or won’t work – now and in the future
• understand when and where actions are required – not all areas will be similarly impacted and not all actions need to happen until certain trigger points or changes are observed
• integrate responses across Council and other stakeholders to respond with a coordinated approach

Council already invests heavily in managing and caring for our coastline, working with many agencies and community partners to keep our beaches and coastal environments healthy and protected.
Council also works to reduce and manage the impacts of coastal hazards through:

• disaster management activities and resilience programs like ‘Be Ready, Cairns’;
• drainage management projects like the current Cairns CBD & Environs Drainage Management Plan;
• The Strategic Shoreline Management Plan which includes coastal management activities such as beach replenishment and protective works such as the sea walls at Machans Beach and Clifton Beach; and
• setting appropriate design standards in the planning scheme for buildings and infrastructure.

The Our Cairns Coast strategy goes beyond these initiatives, to guide the decision making, planning and responses of Council, other key stakeholders, business owners and the community in our coastal areas over the long term.

The Our Cairns Coast Strategy considers coastal hazards up to 2100 resulting from storm tide inundation, coastal erosion and sea level rise inundation. Queensland State Government planning policy requires all Councils to adopt this same timeframe and mandates use of a sea level rise of 0.8m by 2100, to account for climate change impacts when considering coastal hazard implications in strategic land use planning.

A key feature of the strategy is that it prompts management responses when certain sea-level rise trigger levels are met and is not strictly time bound.  This means new actions will be implemented when needed, and we can monitor change and impacts over time to respond accordingly.

Under current climate conditions, less than 1% of our region’s total existing urban area is currently exposed to coastal hazard risks, with storm tide inundation and sea level rise being the dominant coastal hazards. The analysis undertaken as part of developing the Our Cairns Coast strategy indicates the amount of land exposed to coastal hazards is expected to significantly increase in the future particularly around industrial, retail and commercial, and tourism areas and the Cairns CBD.  Low-lying areas and those very close to the shoreline, are more likely to be exposed to risk in the future.
Each coastal community has varying exposure to coastal hazards and will be impacted in different ways. The strategy contains technical studies, mapping and adaptation planning for 14 localities to provide place-based responses and pathways.