Coffs Harbour Open Coast - Coastal Management Program

Help develop a plan to protect what you value about our coastline

We are interested in learning about where and how the community uses our coastline and what the community values about the coast. The City is developing a Scoping Study, and want to hear about key issues that may be threatening the values of the coastline.

What is the Program About?

The City is in the process of preparing a Coastal Management Program (CMP) for the Coffs Harbour open coastline.

The purpose of the CMP is to set the long-term strategy for the management of the Coffs coastline to improve and maintain its environmental, social, cultural and recreational values and manage current and emerging issues.

The Open Coast CMP will focus on the region's beaches, headlands and harbour. It will build upon the work currently being undertaken for our region's estuaries Coastal Management Programs and involve input from the community on where and how people use our coastline and what they value about it.

What progress have we made and what are the next steps?

We have completed the Stage 1 Scoping Study for the Open Coast Coastal Management Program.

Stage 1 identified the scope of the CMP moving forward. It outlines the existing management plans and strategies addressing the coastline, the roles and responsibilities for managing the coastal zone, conducted a first pass risk assessment, highlighted knowledge gaps to be addressed and existing information to be updated, and established a business case and forward plan for the CMP.

The Stage 1 Scoping Study identified any additional studies required to give us the information we need to fully understand our coastal processes and to allow us to make the best management decisions for the future of the coast.

Stage 2 of the Coastal Management Program will follow the Scoping Study and will involve undertaking these required studies that will help the City to identify, analyse and evaluate risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for the coast. We will be tendering for a suitable consultant to complete Stage 2 of the CMP in the coming months.

Stage 3 will then begin to identify a suite of management actions to protect and enhance the values of our coastline.