The Living Coast Plan identified many actions that can be taken to reduce the impact of natural hazards on the community. However, there is much more that needs to be done in order to improve long-term resilience.

This includes Council improving local infrastructure and residents making changes to homes and properties.

Whilst it is impossible to completely remove the risk posed by natural hazards, a resilient community has the ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from natural hazard impacts over long periods of time.

A resilient community is socially connected and has infrastructure that can withstand disaster and foster community recovery. They understand, prepare and manage possible impacts from natural hazards to properties and homes.

New or improved infrastructure can help reduce the impacts.

Normal, natural processes like fires, floods and cyclones can pose a risk to communities. These are called “natural hazards”.

Natural hazards can affect residents and communities in lots of ways.

A “direct impact” means the most obvious impacts of hazards on people and properties. These are the impacts you see on the news, like burnt buildings or flooded streets.

An “indirect impact” is caused by the hazard impacting something that then causes impacts to people and property. For example, a road closed by flooding stops people from leaving their community, or a tree blown over by a storm cuts off power for a large area.

More people are affected by indirect impacts of hazards, but direct impacts tend to be the hardest to recover from. It’s important we consider both when we plan for resilience.

Council is investigating future infrastructure requirements as part of this project. Community feedback will help us progress and finalise these investigations.

We are committed to working in partnership with the community and will consult you about the infrastructure options identified.

This is a long-term process. It is important we get these solutions right, so they provide the benefits we need without creating new problems.

This is a participatory planning process. The involvement and input of community members is critical to success.

We will work in partnership with community members to:

• Understand the impacts of natural hazards on the community
• Create a shared vision for the future with solutions that address those impacts
• Identify a pathway from here to there, with actions for all stakeholders

We don't have a crystal ball, but the information we have suggests the risks from natural hazards like bushfire, flood, and tidal inundation are only going to get worse in the future.

While there are no guarantees, the earlier both Council and property owners take action, the more likely we are to avoid a situation where these areas become unliveable.

If we work together to improve the resilience of Beachmere, then we will be able to better manage those risks and adapt to living with them.

Without improvements to both infrastructure and private assets, then the local area may become unsafe for homes at some point in the future.