Hobsons Bay council is calling on the state government to do more to protect the city’s 20-kilometre coastline from climate change that is conservatively estimated to cost the council $16 million over the next 15 years
Last June, crashing waves flooded homes along the Esplanade at Altona and Seaholme and wreaked damage at Williamstown.
The council has made a submission to the government’s draft Central Regional Coastal Plan 2015-20, developed by the Central Coastal Board, which manages 990 kilometres of Victoria’s coast.
The council has called for other levels of government to share the cost burden of climate change fairly.
Hobsons Bay’s representative on the Association of Bayside Municipalities, Cr Angela Altair, said the council had identified rates capping as a potential problem.
“We believe that future funding should not come from rates but rather from other state government sources,” she said. “Climate change will result in more flooding, increased storms and higher water temperatures, which will threaten marine life.”
Asked if the government would increase funding for Hobsons Bay’s coastline, especially after the council capped rates, a government spokesman replied rates could be increased with justification.
“It’s very clear – our fair-go rate cap is not about cutting important services and infrastructure; it’s about encouraging councils to rein in silly spending,” he said.
“Councils that want to raise rates above inflation and can justify spending will be able to make their case.”
A spokeswoman for Environment Minister Lisa Neville said the government would enact a statewide Victorian coastal strategy, with three new regional plans to be reviewed by June.
Future multimillion-dollar projects at Hobsons Bay include revetment walls to protect against coastal inundation and erosion, heightened sea walls to protect the foreshore, beach renourishment and coastal trail maintenance.
The council received a $75,000 grant from the Department of Environment and Primary Industries to help upgrade the Seaholme foreshore, but this covered less than 10 per cent of the estimated $850,000 cost.
