The Gold Coast waterways network consists of a range of maritime assets including boat ramps, channels, and anchorages that need to be maintained so that they remain clean, safe and accessible now and into the future.
Background
Client: Gold Coast Waterways Authority
The Gold Coast Waterways Navigational Network consists of maritime assets including boat ramps, channels, and anchorages that need to be maintained as to remain clean, safe and accessible now and into the future. The Gold Coast Waterways Authority (the Authority) are responsible for the sustainable management of the waterway network. Maintenance dredging and associated placement of the dredged material are an essential part of this management responsibility, with the Authority and City of Gold Coast required to obtain a broad range of environmental permits and authorities for dredging campaigns. The strategic approval concept (devised by BMT) represents a new and innovative approach to environmental regulation.
Outcomes and Benefits
BMT worked in partnership with the Authority and the City of Gold Coast to obtain a strategic approval for Gold Coast waterways network. This work involved:
Services and Expertise Provided:
The Queensland Government Department of Environment and Natural Resources contracted Buckley Vann Town Planning Consultants and BMT in 2010 to assist the Department with the development of a proposed planning and assessment code and associated guidelines to support the State Planning Policy for Coastal Management currently in development.
During 2009, BMT was engaged by the Gold Coast City Council to undertake a consultancy to provide technical assistance to identify the key risks from climate change across the local government area and to test the readiness of the City to sustain or adapt to the impacts of key climate change parameters such as sea level rise, increased flooding and increased storms and hazard events.
The coastal zone of Byron Shire has a history of erosion and inundation related to ocean storm tides and wave attack.
BMT, in association with Buckley Vann town planners and the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland (UQ), undertook a climate change vulnerability and adaptation planning study for the remote centre of Choiseul Bay, at the northern tip of the Solomon Islands.