Landowners in Victoria have been left with 'worthless' property after the state government has introduced new planning laws that prevent them from building on their country due to predicted rises on sea level.
According to the new planning policy of the State, all new development goods inspections along the coastline of Victoria will now be assessed and taking into account a sea level rise of at least 80 centimeters.
In 2016, Henry Luiz bought a lot on the beach at Loch Sport in Oost -Victoria that he and his wife were planning to build a house and withdraw.
However, the city council has rejected its development proposal due to the rising projections at sea level, and now it is not even able to sell the country because new buyers would be subject to the same limitation.
'It actually means that the country has no value. Nobody will buy it because of the flood overlay, “said Mr. Luiz on ABC News.
He said that he and his wife are about $ 100,000 out of his own pocket after purchasing the country and paying rates, land tax and water connections for the property, because they had planned a pension home.
The new laws will prevent landowners from making their own informed decision about the chance that predictions for climate change will come out and the risk at sea increases.
The Victorian government said through a spokesperson that legislation was based on predictions about protecting Victorians.
Henry Luiz used his Superannuation to buy an empty fate on the beach at Loch Sport in Oost -Victoria, but cannot build or sell it now due to predicted sea level rises
If global warming remains at 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels, the sea level is expected to rise by 2-3 meters in the next 2000 years. The image shows Loch Sport under this scenario, with red areas that indicate that areas are expected to be immersed
The properties on the water in Australia, and the world, remain highly sought after and therefore expensive, which indicates that many people do not believe the predictions of the sea rise, but one expert says they should be taken seriously.
Professor David Kennedy, a coastal geomorfologist at the University of Melbourne, said the ABC that the new considerations for rising sea level when building approvals were not 'alarmist' and if there was something 'conservative'.
“Do we strengthen and keep houses that are already vulnerable and are more vulnerable or do we look at back and compensation?” he said.
The situation can also influence land holders outside of Victoria, whereby the government of Queensland also explains an increase in sea level of 80 centimeters from climate change, should be considered in the assessment of planning and development.
The NSW government said “areas that are expected to be affected by the sea level rise can be mapped as vulnerable areas where coastal hazards have to be considered before the development is allowed and appropriate in local environmental plans.”
According to Coastadapt – an advisory body to support decision makers and managers of the coast in Australia, including local councils – the value of an increase of 0.8 m sea level with 2100 if a planning benchmark quickly presupposes the status of a 'rule of thumb'.
In Victoria, the rise in the sea level of 0.8 m was included in the Uiterwaarden strategy 2021.
National member of Gippland South, Danny O'Brien, asked the state government in September last year to make the new flood modeling properties that the local population bought along the coast worthless.
“Wellington Shire has recently broadcast letters to potentially indisted country holders who advise that this change can lead to the relevant authority, the West Gippland Catchment Management Authority, to future planning applications in flood -sensitive coastal areas,” Mr. O'Brien said.
“These planning changes will undoubtedly express serious concern for people who are planning to build a house at locations such as Loch Sport, Golden Beach, Paradise Beach and McLoughlins Beach.”
Development approvals along the coastline of Victoria must now take into account a sea level rise of at least 0.8 million thanks to a change in the planning policy of the State
Mr O'Brien said there was concern that planning permits could be rejected, even if the country itself would not be subject to floods, but that were accessible to roads that could be affected.
“Our local authorities deserve leadership from the state government on how these changes will influence future planning decisions for their cities, but most landowners will want clarity.”
Local Loch Sport broker Rachelle Potts told the broadcaster that the new flood modeling influenced approximately 30 of its ownership reports.
She said that the area flourished with sea wanderers who wanted to leave the city during Covid, but now those properties were virtually 'unsaleable'.
The new strategy influences 350 houses in Wellington Shire, with the communities of Golden Beach, Loch Sport, Paradise Beach and McLoughlins Beach.
