Australian real estate developer Jeff McCloy calls concern about sea level rise from global warming 'unjustified, worldwide idiocy.' Photo: Ryan Osland

By Ben Cubby
6 March 2012 CRACKS are appearing in the state’s response to rising sea levels, with one council facing potential legal action from a developer and other residents worried about planning controls and insurance risks. Lake Macquarie Council recently updated its recommendations for about 10,000 people living up to three metres above the average sea level. All their properties could be exposed to inundation and increased flood risks by the end of the century, according to guidelines developed by the CSIRO. But a property developer, Jeff McCloy, said he was contemplating leading a class action suit against the council, which he said was ”falling for this unjustified, worldwide idiocy about sea level rises”. Mr McCloy recently arranged for climate change sceptics Ian Plimer, Bob Carter and David Archibald to address residents and councillors, and said the presentation seemed to convince many people there was nothing to worry about. It comes as the NSW government reassesses its plans regarding sea level rises, including the possibility of a moratorium on sea level-related planning restrictions until more studies are done. Mr McCloy is seeking to gain approval for a subdivision of 24 homes that is likely to be affected by the Lake Macquarie planning guidelines. ”This is not about me though; this is about the poor little property owner who had had hundreds of thousands of dollars knocked off the value of their property,” Mr McCloy said. He said he had studied sea level rise on the internet and concluded it was rising at only a very slow rate, and that rate had slowed in the past decade, so any planning restrictions were unjustified. [Obviously, he didn’t check out Desdemona’s collection of sea level stories.] Lake Macquarie Council said its guidelines were based on rational science.
 
”Our position is informed by the available evidence,” said the council’s sustainability manager, Alice Howe. […]

Developer may sue to trigger rethink on sea level rises