Port Fairy’s coastline has been chosen to feature on a new Australian coastal management website.
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A film crew captured residents monitoring South Beach on Thursday and highlighted some of the local coastal issues.
Moyne Shire CEO David Madden and Port Fairy Coastal Group chairman Nick Abbott will be interviewed for the online documentary.
The case study, a five-minute documentary, will feature on the climate change and coastal management website.
Moyne Shire Environment and Regulatory Services manager Robert Gibson said Port Fairy was evidence of the different coastal issues that could occur.
“It’s subject to erosion, inundation and we’ve got the (former) municipal tip (erosion) that’s caused problems in the past,” Mr Gibson said.
“From all those perspectives it’s a good example of the problems that can be faced on the coast in just one small location.
“We’ll be showing what we’re facing and the demonstrate some of the approaches we’re taking to deal with those problems,” he said.
Mr Gibson said coastal issues included inundation, where water spilled onto the road around South Beach and the Passage, ongoing erosion work and the East Beach rock wall.
”We’ve got a few challenges to face and we’re using it as an example of how a small community is dealing with it,” Mr Gibson said.
He said the website would provide information for coastal land managers and the broader community.
“It’s about gathering information about how different communities are dealing with coastal challenges that are being faced and exacerbated by climate change (and) rising sea levels.”
The federal government has provided funding to the National Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) to produce the website.
St Patrick’s Primary School Port Fairy year six pupils, in conjunction with Port Fairy Consolidated School, are part of an ongoing coastal monitoring project with the Port Fairy Coastal Group which began last year.
They were filmed monitoring erosion with Port Fairy Coastal Group’s Nick Abbott as part of the project.
St Patrick’s Primary School acting principal Peter Sanderson said it was important the students were aware of environmental challenges.
“It’s their community and it’s their future,” Mr Sanderson said.
“Because it’s such a long-term project, it’s something that in years to come they can say ‘we were part of that’ or ‘we were responsible for that’.”
Portland’s Powerhouse Production crew are working with Moyne Shire Council to film and edit the movie, in readiness for its online debut.
