Plan to dump sandbags on Australia beaches to protect homes from rising seas
By MATTHEW MOORE, URBAN AFFAIRS EDITOR
April 2, 2010 OWNERS of houses at risk of being washed into the sea will have the right to dump protective sandbags, weighing up to one tonne each, on public beaches for 12 months without seeking council approval, under new draft laws. And home owners will also be able to bypass councils and apply to new planning panels for the right to construct permanent walls to save properties at risk of being lost to the sea. In the first such legislation proposed in Australia, the state government has prepared a draft coastal protection bill which seeks to resolve a series of fights along the coast, where residents and councils are in dispute over the loss of homes due to coastal erosion and rises in sea levels. The Deputy Director-General of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, Simon Smith, said the legislation addressed both short- and long-term problems faced by residents along the coast. To go with the new law, the department will prepare a code of practice setting out how residents can respond in the short term when weather threatens to destroy their properties. Councils with residents living in 14 ”hot spots” will be asked to prepare plans on how sandbag walls can be built and where the bags will be stored. … At present, councils have different views on what should happen to properties at risk of sea level rises. Several have refused to allow owners to build defences on public beaches or waterways. …
