Management of the coastal zone in Byron Bay: the neglect of medium-term considerations

This paper documents the history of coastal management in Byron Bay and its implication for the property rights of landowners and other stakeholders. It finds that, until recently, planning for an uncertain future in a warming climate has overshadowed more immediate issues. The NSW Government has recently signalled its intention to allow individual landowners the right to apply to protect their properties from erosive events, thereby removing the need for councils to invoke statewide sea-level-rise projections. But these proposed changes fail to address the medium-term (~40 years) problem, whilst promoting ad hoc coastal protection measures. This paper argues that medium-term engineering solutions, including beach nourishment to defend some residential areas, should not be ruled out a priori. Parts of the present coastline may well need to be abandoned as they become impractical and too expensive to protect, but it is argued that this time has not yet arrived.