Moffatt Beach in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast is about to undergo a major transformation, with the public invited to have their say on the future plans until April 16, 2025.
The Sunshine Coast Council has three projects for feedback that focus on a long-term vision for the suburb’s public spaces, as well as more immediate planning for the parkland at Moffat Beach and Moffat Headland.
These are the Moffat Beach Place Plan, Moffat Beach Seawall Draft Landscape Plan, and the Moffat Headland Railing Renewal Enhancement project.
Beginning in May this year, the seawall will be reconstructed after the western section was damaged by severe weather in 2022, and the middle section in early 2024.
Sunshine Coast Council Division 2 councillor Terry Landsberg said the Council’s goal was to ensure community safety and sustainability, while providing a vibrant future for Moffat Beach.
“The Moffat Beach Place Plan project will capture our community’s values and create a long-term vision for the future direction of public spaces across the entire suburb,” Cr Landsberg said.
“In the shorter-term, the park and landscaping behind the seawall will be impacted during the reconstruction project – and will need to be reinstated.
“This is an opportunity to do so with improvements to give the community back parkland that would otherwise have been lost because of the reconstructed seawall alignment.”
The Moffat Beach Place Plan considers public spaces across the entire suburb and seeks to capture our community’s values and long-term vision for the area.
It will guide how we can improve and manage spaces like the streets and parks, where we walk, gather and interact with each other.
It considers how we can make it safer and easier for people to walk around the suburb and reinforce the unique Moffat Beach character.
While the Council has committed funds to develop the Place Plan in 2024 and 2025, there are no funds committed to implement projects that arise from the plan. However, it will help guide future opportunities for grants and other funding sources.
Reconstruction of the Moffat Beach Seawall is due to begin mid-year, after the Council recently received all necessary approvals to proceed.
The Council has worked closely with the community to understand their values and balance the seawall impact on those values, including the Norfolk Island Pine trees, cultural heritage, local events, beach and parkland.
The result is the design of a hybrid seawall. This moves the wall out onto the beach between the central and eastern end, and back into the parkland at the western end.
The hybrid layout balances the loss of open space on the beach and in the parkland. And it gives the best chance of preserving the Norfolk Island Pine trees, with the least impact to the beach and park.
It also means there is an opportunity to review the park area immediately behind the seawall to ensure the available parkland is maximised and improved.
The draft landscape plan considers the location of picnic tables, seating benches, beach access and showers, garden bed areas and tree plantings in the parkland.
The layout also extends a wider upgrade coastal pathway through the space and will improve the safety of the pedestrian connection to the shops by reducing conflict with vehicles.
It looks at an option to reduce the existing footprint of the Elanor Shipley carpark and reorganise it to achieve a more efficient layout, while keeping the same number of parking spaces.
The design reclaims 670 sq m of carpark to become high-quality open space in a prime location directly behind the new seawall.
Overall, the design achieves a net gain of 40sq m of open space in the parkland.
This is an important part of the proposal, because if the council kept the old carpark layout, the seawall shifting landward in this area would leave only a narrow strip to be taken up by the coastal pathway, leaving no room for seating or trees.
The draft landscape plan also suggests succession planting of the Norfolk Island Pine trees – which is the concept of planting new trees near existing maturing trees. As the older trees progressively decline, the younger trees will be established and have grown ready to take their place.
The Moffat Headland Railing Renewal and Enhancement project is for the railings to be replaced and upgraded to meet current standards.
The project considers options to renew the existing railings on the headland, and to improve safety and amenity along the rest of the headland.
Visit have your say Sunshine Coast to share your feedback and find out how you can get involved.
