Case studies of coastal councils
Denmark, Western Australia: Community-driven long term planning
Statistics
- Area of coastline: 84km + 73km of estuary foreshore
- Percentage of coastline controlled by the council: 37%
- Area of freehold land: 500sq km or around 28% of the shire
- Population: (2001 census): 5051
- Rate revenue: $2.7m
- Total Revenue $8m
- Environment spending 2004-05: $200,000
Background
Denmark is a small rural council located 400 km south of Perth on the south coast of Western Australia. The shire is located in one of 25 world-wide biodiversity hotspots and falls into the Walpole Wilderness Area of more than 363 000 hectares, which is currently being considered for world heritage listing. The population of Denmark is growing at around 3 per cent per annum, with 65 per cent of residents living in Denmark, and the rest on farms and in two small satellite settlements. Only 28 per cent of the shire is freehold land.
From 1970-1990 Landcare and conservation drove a need for planning. The community was concerned about a decline in the water quality of the Denmark River. Also, the town's water supply, Wilson's Inlet was showing signs of high nutrient content, and there were plans to set up a major woodchip export industry in the town. As a result, a community plan was commissioned and an updated town planning scheme adopted. Denmark continues to benefit today from a strong, proactive community interested in protecting their natural resource base. Planning activities within council are well established and they enjoy strong community support.
What are the critical coastal zone management issues
- Management of people, such as population growth, 4WD access to beach areas and increased pressure from tourists. New residents have differing expectations to those of longer term residents and these expectations need to be managed. Tourists and new residents have economic significance to the shire.
- Promotion, yet protection of a Biodiversity Hotspot of international significance. There needs to be a balance between tourism infrastructure investment, the exploitation of the natural environment and the values of local residents.
- A small council with limited financial resources and knowledge with significant coastal and estuary areas to manage.
Why was the Shire of Denmark used as a case study?
The council is a small progressive rural council, with a low rate base and a large area of coastline and estuaries to manage. Despite this, they have been very successful in achieving high standards of environmental management. Denmark Shire has a very strong history of community involvement in planning to manage coastal resources. In addition, the council is actively involved in a regional group of councils established to manage coastal issues (the first such group set up in Australia). Denmark is also part of the first regional Natural Resource Management (NRM) group to be established in WA.
Through a long history of planning to manage the natural resource base, an understanding of it's economic worth in regards to tourism, and constantly seeking innovative solutions to environmental problems, Denmark has been able to avoid most of the problems other councils are facing from development pressures. Denmark is an excellent example of how even small, low resourced councils can achieve great environmental results.
Council initiatives to address the issues
Continuous environmental planning
The council, with active participation from the community, has undertaken extensive planning activities, and has implemented these plans to protect the natural resource base and manage the coastal zone. For instance;
- The Wilson Inlet Foreshore Management Plan is a community plan started in the early 1990's which is regularly updated by the community. It includes strategies for water activities and projects together with the type of activities permitted on the inlet foreshore.
- The Coastal Management Plan (Denmark was the first shire to produce one in WA) outlines all the permitted uses along the coastal foreshore, where facilities are to be located and the types of facilities. This plan has been reviewed in the last 12 months.
- A new town planning scheme was adopted in 1994 outlining development requirements. Detailed rural and residential settlement strategies, based on nine water catchment areas, were adopted in 1998 and reviewed and updated in 2003.
The Council and community have been very proactive in accessing funding to implement Council plans. Coastcare, Coastwest, and Coast and Clean Seas program grants have all been accessed and supplemented with council contributions. Many of these programs no longer exist, however the council has been successful in having Denmark's NRM priorities included in the regional NRM plan. This means that future funding from the regional board is possible.
The Shire has worked with scientific groups such as CSIRO and Curtin University to undertake studies and provide scientific information that can then be used in the planning process.
Lessons learnt
The need to engage the community in planning processes is imperative. Being proactive in this area can reduce future conflicts and generate ownership in the plans and processes developed. There are many examples where projects/developments have occurred based on community driven planning. Examples include redevelopment and expansion of tourist facilities on the Wilson Inlet foreshore such as holiday accommodation developments and recreation/heritage trails.
It is important to engage new residents. Often they expect a different range of services and infrastructure to be available and may not value the coastal environment in the same way as long term residents. Involving them in community and council activities reduces potential conflicts.
Council could not afford to undertake many planning initiatives without external funding, therefore it is important to forge strong relationships with state and commonwealth agencies and research organisations. Through these relationships council has achieved far greater environmental outcomes than they could on their own.
Participation in the South Coast Management Group and the regional NRM Group
Denmark and five other local governments along the south coast of Western Australia formed the South Coast Management Group in 1995. This is a unique group of local governments who cooperate to share information and experiences with each other. The area covered by these 6 local governments is almost the entire length of the south coast of Western Australia. Specifically the group was established with the following objectives:
- Create an environment of sustainable development
- Promote economic, community and environmental well being in the region
- Foster cooperative and collaborative arrangements
- Protection of coastal and marine environment
- Involve the community in coastal and marine planning and management
- Consider matters of common interest to members and where practicable to establish common policy
- Facilitate cooperative activities of members at a regional level
- Identify priorities for promotion of regional initiatives
- Sponsor or engage in publishing educational material and research in coastal and marine initiatives.
Denmark also actively participates in the South Coast Regional Initiative Planning Team (SCRIPT), the NRM group for the region. SCRIPT was the first regional NRM group established in WA. A councillor sits on the committee and assists with the integration and consultation of local government into regional planning. This involvement will see investments being made in the Denmark Shire through the regional NRM processes and coastal zone management issues have been well addressed by the regional plan.
Lessons learnt
Councils are not well engaged in many other NRM regions around Australia, yet Denmark Shire has been for some time. The formation of the South Coast Management Group ten years ago has meant that local governments have been working together regionally for many years, so a regional group was not a new concept.
Forward planning in areas such as coastal management has enabled council to capitalise on NRM funding.
Active involvement by council in these regional groups takes time and resources. Commitment from all parties is required for it to work. The council has made this commitment through its councillors, staff and community.
Establishment of the Denmark Environment Centre
The Denmark Environment Centre (DEC) was founded in 1987 and is a community non profit organisation. The council works in partnership on projects with DEC and through the DEC the community provides advice to Council. The DEC also increases the capacity of the community in NRM through environmental education and awareness and courses in bush regeneration.
The DEC undertook the Denmark Greening Plan (started in 2003) which has provided an excellent tool for local, state and national planning agencies and allows for high conservation values to be taken into account at all levels of decision making. The plan has created a comprehensive database of biodiversity, vegetation, land use and landforms and is likely to be one of the best in Australia.
The project was made possible through NHT funding and included input from a wide range of government (local and state) and community groups. All vegetation in the shire has been mapped and its type, condition and value noted. Data and aerial photography was provided by the state government. Also, all cleared and farmed waterways and riparian zones were mapped. The result is a comprehensive digitised database for environmental management. Over 100 volunteers participated in the project.
The information is used for decision making for all natural resource and coastal zone management work undertaken by council, it also provides the necessary information for updating planning strategies.
Lessons learnt
This project was the biggest undertaken by the DEC to date, so offered many challenges, not least of which were learning the GIS technology. Relationships between partners in the project, including agencies and volunteers were crucial. It was vital to identify the necessary resources and funding early in the process. To get the full benefit of the large volunteer workforce they needed to be well managed to ensure resources were available when needed. The capacity of the community was greatly increased through this project.
The database needs to be continually updated. To do this, training in the use of the GIS technology needs to be undertaken with more volunteers to ensure a lack of knowledge on how to use it does not restrict the usefulness of the database.
The use of aerial photography had the unexpected benefit of identifying unauthorised use of public land for farming. It also increased the awareness and appreciation of landholders on the values of bush and waterways on their properties.
Working in partnership with the Denmark Environment Centre enabled council to realise the wealth of environmental knowledge available within the community.
Summary
Council regularly surveys the community to determine what their priority areas are. The environment consistently falls in the top two. This provides council with a mandate to protect their coastal resources and recognises the significance of the areas natural resource base to the community.
Despite the small rate base of the shire, Denmark has been at the forefront of environmental and coastal zone management activities for many years. Their strong history of planning and community involvement has meant that despite the strong pressures similar areas along the Western Australian coastline are experiencing, Denmark Shire is well prepared to deal with increased tourism and population demands. Plans are in place and the scientific information has been collected to allow well informed decision making by Council to take place. This is made easier by the strong support council receives from their proactive community.
- Contact:
- Pascoe Durtanovich
CEO Shire of Denmark
089848 0300
denmarkshire@westnet.com.au
