Wednesday May 20, 2015

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Climate change and the shire’s assets
May 19, 2015, 2:05 p.m.

Climate change, sea level rise (SLR) and tidal inundation have the potential to impact private and public land and assets within the shire with key farmland, unsettled low-lying floodplain areas around Mylestom, and the Urunga Industrial precinct being just a few areas named in a council report.
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Waterfront properties along the Kalang River at Urunga are susceptible to rising sea levels and tidal inundatuion

Waterfront properties along the Kalang River at Urunga are susceptible to rising sea levels and tidal inundatuion

Tabled and adopted at last month’s council meeting, the Bellingen Shire Estuary Inundation Mapping Study looked at the affect of future coastal hazards as a result of climate change. Named in the document were key local areas and assets including:

– flood-plain areas of Fernmount;

– a number of rural, residential and primary production properties in the townships of Mylestom, Repton, Raleigh, Urunga, Brierfield, and Bellingen

– waterfront properties along the Kalang River at Urunga, in particular properties at the Urunga Industrial precinct, Urunga Heads Holiday Park, Urunga Scouts, the Urunga Golf Course / tennis courts and waterfront properties in the immediate vicinity lagoon and Urunga Lagoon;

– some rural, residential properties located on Newry Island; some major and minor roads in the townships of Mylestom, Repton, Raleigh, Urunga, Newry Island, Brierfield, Fernmount and Bellingen;

– the Raleigh Waste Management Centre;

– the sewer and stormwater services at Raleigh, Bellingen and Urunga; and

– part of the North Coast Railway and Pacific Highway.
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The study, which complements the Belllingen Shire Coastal Zone Management Plan, comes hot-on-the-heels of new research by CSIRO claiming sea levels are rising faster than previously thought and that Mid North Coast councils should not to cave-in to landholder who are concerned about property values.

“If we fail to mitigate our emissions, sea level rise will be up to a metre by the end of the century and coastal councils, coastal planners, do need to take this into account,” CSIRO fellow and co-author, John Church, said.

“We need to think about what are the total implications, not just the short-term implications. Councils and coastal societies will have liabilities if they choose to ignore sea level rise into the future”.

Mr Church’s sentiments have received support from PRD nationwide managing director, Tony Brasier who said governments have launched a host of sustainability and environmental policies and this has implications for residential and commercial housing.

“If governments and the key players in the building and construction industry keep climate change front of mind in their master plans … the loss in median house values in these areas would, in most cases, far outweigh the costs associated with better ‘weather proofing’ of the dwellings,” Mr Brasier said.

“If the (building) industry is to successfully adapt to environmental anomalies attributed to climate change, the methods taken can’t be implemented by pockets of individuals operating in isolation, but has to become a social responsibility, where regions have tailored plans specific to the relationship between people, housing and the wider community in their particular area”.

In addition, Mr Brasier said buyers and investors using modelling to check out the impact of natural disasters on housing and property and he offered some advice for mitigation against possible global warming affects.

“Customers are increasingly investigating whether a property is in an area that has previously encountered issues with destructive weather events,” Mr Brasier said.

“The increased home content and building insurance costs as part of home maintenance and affordability concerns is also being more widely considered.

“Looking to the future, developers servicing social housing requirements must account for weather-related health risks by incorporating thoughtful urban greening strategies into master-planned communities, using appropriate building materials to withstand extreme climatic events and installing insulation to lessen the impact of temperature fluctuations. These actions will not only protect the residents from the elements, but will go some way to preserving the value of the properties for owners and investors”.