New residents threaten coast

TORQUAY and Lorne are among targets of an influx of 300,000 Victorians set to “love the coast to death”, Victorian Coastal Council has warned.
But the same visitors considering moving to the coast wanted its character maintained.
A market research report on coastal management said visitors considered climate change and sea level rise posed a threat.
But they failed to understand the full implications of a one-metre rise in sea levels, the report said.
Visitors agreed coastal planning laws should limit development in areas where rising seas were likely to have an impact.
The report said a majority was concerned coastal towns were increasingly like ordinary Australian suburbs.
The Gold Coast and Surfers Paradise were cited as examples of inappropriate coastal development.
Half the visitors said they doubted government planning and building guidelines sufficiently protected Victorian coastal towns’ characters.
Visitors had “mixed feelings regarding how to best accommodate increased demand for housing along Victoria’s coastline”.
The report said some preferred outward expansion as long as it was inland. Others preferred higher density as long as it remained low-rise.
“Top-of-mind associations with the Victorian coast are usually focused on the iconic features of the coastline,” the report said.
The iconic features included the Great Ocean Road, Twelve Apostles, Phillip Island and its penguins.
Lorne, Torquay and Apollo Bay were among the top five most-frequently-visited coastal destinations.
Coastal council interim chair Janet Bolitho said the research confirmed Victorians shared the Australian reputation as a beach-loving nation.
Ms Bolitho said the sea change phenomenon “does not look like stopping any time soon”.
“This is all great news in terms of our lifestyles but also highlights the need to manage our coast so that it is not loved to death.”