FAQ

A Foreshore Management Plan is a detailed plan for managing the Coogee Beach Foreshore over a 50 year planning horizon. The Plan is developed in accordance with State Coastal Planning Policy guidelines and anticipated coastal hazard impacts on assets. The Plan guides the City’s management of the Coogee Beach Foreshore over the next 50 years with a specific focus on adapting and responding to potential erosion events and coastal inundation.

The area covered by the Foreshore Management Plan for Coogee Beach Foreshore is shown in the map below. The project area extends from just south of Port Coogee Marina (adjacent to Perlinte View) to the Coogee Beach Life Saving Club (near Poore Grove). 

What does the Foreshore Management Plan need to consider? 

The Foreshore Management Plan should be consistent with State Planning Policy, and consider key foreshore management matters such as:

• coastal processes & hazards
• landforms and stability
• natural vulnerability
• climate change
• ecological values
• water quality
• recreation and public access
• landscape, seascape and visual landscape
• indigenous heritage
• cultural heritage, and land capability

Many of these aspects are considered and dealt with via existing Plans for this area that the Foreshore Management Plan ties together and builds upon. These include:

• Coogee Beach Master Plan, which presents the overall vision for Coogee Beach, currently at Stage 3 
• Woodman Point Regional Park Management Plan (Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, 2010)
• Coogee Beach (Environmental) Management Plan (Ecoscape, 2009) which details the existing flora and fauna and provides guidance for conservation of the existing natural dune system.

The City engaged specialist consultants with expertise in coastal engineering and planning to prepare the foreshore management plan in a process guided by State Coastal Planning Policy and current industry best practice. The City and its consultants engaged with the community and key stakeholder in early 2020 to assist in guiding the preparation of the management plan.

Key general principles that guide management of the foreshore going forward include:

• Retain the natural character of the Foreshore area going forward, including preserving a sandy beach and healthy vegetated foredune buffer to the extent possible.
• Maintain and adapt the level of public amenity provided by infrastructure within the Foreshore area, with a view to achieving this more efficiently and on a smaller footprint.
• Uphold the present balance of natural and developed areas, and strategically rebalance to maintain similar proportions if and when Foreshore land is lost in the future due to shoreline movements.
• Maintain and protect key infrastructure for as long as practical via interim protection or adaptation measures, with a long term strategy of managed retreat in most areas

The Foreshore Management Plan is informed by the City’s previous coastal hazard studies and planning, including those undertaken by the Cockburn Sound Coastal Alliance (CSCA) of which the City is a founding member. Relevant previous documents include:

• Coastal Adaptation Plan (City of Cockburn 2016)
• Cockburn Sound Coastal Vulnerability Values and Risk Assessment (CSCA 2014)
• Cockburn Sound Coastal Vulnerability Study (CSCA 2013)

For further information regarding coastal hazards within the City of Cockburn and to view previous studies, visit https://www.cockburn.wa.gov.au/Environment-and-Waste/Sustainability-and-Conservation/Climate-Change/Coastal-Adaptation-Cockburn-Sound-Coastal-Alliance.

At this stage, the foreshore management plan is just a draft. A final plan will be presented to Council for adoption later this year. Your feedback on the draft is important and will be considered before the plan is finalised. 

Everyone is invited to comment on this project. 

Your feedback will be used in collaboration with further research and advice from subject matter experts to finalise the Foreshore Management Plan for Coogee Beach foreshore.

Contact the Project Team on the details below.

A final plan will be presented to Council for adoption. The adopted foreshore management plan will be used as a guide for how the City will adapt and respond to erosion at Coogee Beach Foreshore over a 50 year period. 

Actions recommended within the immediate 10 year period are more detailed and have greater certainty, whilst a flexible approach is taken to longer term actions such that high level guidance is provided with final decisions to be made closer to the time considering the values and facts that apply at the time.