Sea Eagle
Issue 1 - January 2002

The newsletter on behalf of the Community and Conservation sectors for the South-east Queensland Coastal Management Plan.

Introduction

The Coastal Protection and Management Act 1995, provides the establishment of a State Coastal Plan and Regional Coastal Management Plans. The State Coastal Plan was released by the Hon Peter Beattie MP, Premier of Queensland in September 2001 and comes into effect on 27 February 2002. The South-east Queensland Coastal Management Plan is presently being prepared and is intended to be implemented by December 2003.

Background

The community and conservation sectors are represented on the South-east Queensland Regional Consultative Committee for the Coastal Management Plan by Michael Lusis (Conservation - Australian Marine Conservation Society) and Simon Baltais (Community - Moreton Bay Environmental Alliance). They were appointed to the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) by Hon Mr Dean Wells MP, Minister for the Environment and have participated in the plan making process 1998 and 2000 respectively.

The initial membership of the RCC included only a conservation representative but after some thoughtful lobbying a community sector representative was appointed. Other representatives on the RCC include an independent Chair (Mr Chris Buckley), nine Local Governments, four State Agencies, Brisbane Port Authority, four industries, and two Indigenous interests.

A significant amount of progress had been made on the draft regional coastal management plan from its inception in November 1997 to late 2000. A review at that time indicated that both the SEQ and Cardwell-Hinchinbrook regional coastal management plans were well ahead in their development compared to the State Coastal Plan. All sectors agreed to postpone further development of the regional plans until after the release of the State Coastal Plan.

Did you know?

You can obtain publications on 'Inventory and Assessment of the Conservation values of the intertidal rocky shores of SEQ' and 'Conservation Assessment of Coastal Wetlands in SEQ' A cd-rom, called 'Coastal Wetlands of SEQ' is also available from the Coasts, Wetlands & Waterways Branch of the EPA. Contact Anita Leahy. Note that a cost may be involved.

Access to further information

Further information on the State Coastal Plan and the South-east Queensland Regional Coastal Management Plan is available from the Environmental Protection Agency. Please contact Mr Gavin Elphinstone or other members of the coastal planning via Anita Leahy.

Status

Training forums on how to interpret the State Coastal Plan and its application to future decision making processes are being conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency during February 2002. These forums are the first opportunity information will be available, regarding the linkages between the State Coastal Plan and the development of the regional coastal management plan(s) including SEQ. The intended timetable for the forums is:

Brisbane	February 4 and 5
Hervey Bay	February 7 and 8
Rockhampton	February 11 and 12
Mackay	February 14 and 15
Townsville	February 18 and 19
Cairns	possibly 20 & 21 or 21 & 22

Please note that the first day of the two day program (eg. Feb 4 in Brisbane) is to provide an overview, so representatives from community and conservation sectors may attend, while day 2 is intended intensive training and applies to officers from state agencies and local governments. If you are interested in attending any of the first day sessions, please email coast.plan@env.qld.gov.au to lodge your interest.

Future events

Two community and conservation sponsored forums were held in 2000 and 2001 to articulate the status of regional coastal management plan and discuss other related initiatives such as the SEQ Water Quality Management Strategy. Further opportunities are planned by sector representatives for 2002 and 2003 including:

• Presentations at Moreton Bay Environmental Alliance bi-monthly forums.
• Presentations at other regional forums on the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast.

Have your say on a regular basis

The Moreton Bay Environmental Alliance hosts a bi-monthly forum at the Wynnum Central Primary School on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm (lunch is included, although a gold coin donation would be appreciated). A report and a 30 minute interactive session will be provided at each forum to ask either Michael Lusis or Simon Baltais any questions relating to the SEQ coastal management plan.

Who is available to help?

During the next two years, representatives from the Moreton Bay Environment Alliance together with the Australian Marine Conservation Society, Queensland Conservation Council and Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland will seek to facilitate opportunities for individuals and community organisations to participate in the development and implementation of the South-east Queensland Regional Coastal Management Plan.

Contact either Michael Lusis by telephone on 3822 6824 (H) or Simon Baltais on telephone 3822 4943 or email baltais@bigpond.com.au, if you would like to be included on the mailing list.

Future editions of Sea-Eagle

The Sea-Eagle will be published bi-monthly and distributed by email and mailed out as an insert with the newsletters of participating organisations.