A warning for coastal councils: Update August 2010

On 28 July 2010, Victorian Civil and Administrative (VCAT) handed down its decision inL Taip v East Gippsland Shire Council.  This important decision will have broad consequences for infill development in Victorian coastal municipalities.  It will also affect the way in which climate change issues are addressed more generally.  To use the words of VCAT, the case brings into focus how the planning system in Victoria deals with climate change, rising sea levels and the vulnerability of coastal communities to the associated impacts of these conditions.

The case concerns a decision by the East Gippsland Shire Council to grant a permit for residential development of eight dwellings in Lakes Entrance, which is a coastal regional town in Eastern Victoria that is subject to flooding.  The land the subject of the permit application is in a Business 1 Zone and is affected by a Land Subject to Inundation Overlay (LSIO).

A local resident sought review of Council's decision before VCAT.  The core issue under consideration by VCAT was the impact of climate change risks on the site in question and its surrounds.

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