McCulloch v Bass Coast Shire Council

COURT OR TRIBUNAL

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal

DATE FILED (OR FIRST HEARING DATE)

30/01/2007

LITIGATION TYPE

Project Approval - Adaptation

SUBJECT MATTER

Coastal hazard

REVIEW TYPE

Merits review

SUMMARY

McCulloch and others sought review of a council decision to grant a permit for the development of levees/bunds to protect another proposed development - a retirement village - from flooding from the coast. The Tribunal rejected the application on two grounds. Firstly, it accepted expert evidence that the proposed levee might not 'guarantee long term protection from coastal inundation' due to sea level rise and substantial risks of flooding would remain. Secondly, the Tribunal held that the impacts on the dune systems of the proposed levees had not been adequately assessed and were likely to be greater than the flood protection benefit they were designed to achieve.

CASE DOCUMENTS

McCulloch v Bass Coast Shire Council [2007] VCAT 363