Antinuclear

Inside the party there are waves of discontent.

The row has pitched mate against mate.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, in his role as chairman of the Council of Mayors, demanded an urgent clarification from Planning Minister Jeff Seeney.

Quirk warned of “confusion and frustration” with different councils having to factor in different sets of rules.

He used the examples of Brighton and Shorncliffe in Brisbane that “will be subject to different climate change considerations” in planning than those at Clontarf and Woody Point in Moreton in suburbs separated only by Ted Smout Bridge………………….

There are 26 coastal councils in Queensland waiting to see what happens next. Remember the CSIRO warns the cost of future sea rise impacts on Australia will be measured not in billions, but in trillions of dollars.

There are other forces at work. Proud local councils, made up of duly elected men and women who have fought tooth and nail for a seat at the table, don’t like being pushed around by Big Brother state governments.

The tensions rose when the influential Local Government Association of Queensland challenged Seeney…………

Sutherland insists councils are obliged by law to consider all kinds of hazards – including possible sea rises – when assessing development applications.

Legal advice to the LGAQ backs him.

“Councils are obliged to properly consider coastal hazards, such as erosion, storm tide inundation and flooding when preparing planning schemes and assessing development applications,” said Tim Fynes-Clinton, a solicitor specialising in planning.

“Such considerations include the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise and increased wind intensity in worsening existing coastal hazards.

“To limit potential liability, councils ought to adopt a sea level rise factor in conformity with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.”……..

Sutherland also won support from the Planning Institute of Australia’s Kirsty Kelly.

She called for all spheres of government to show leadership in dealing with the impacts of rising sea levels. Kelly said politics was taking precedent “over globally recognised science”……..

Kelly referred Seeney to the Australian Government’s position paper Adapting to Climate Change in Australia that states “sea level rise of up to 1m cannot be ruled out”.

The Insurance Council­­ of Australia has also called for uniformity. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/will-climate-change-denials-sink-the-lnp/story-fnihsr9v-1227162438856?nk=dbba8e056dc1fe2cf4c56ec8f9212876