Directors at the Sunshine Coast Regional District are getting benefit of new research as they look at updates to development permit areas.
DPAs regulate building near things like shorelines or creeks. One potential hazard on creeks is a debris flows. The Sunshine Coast has seen several over the years, including a very serious one Roberts Creek in the 80s.
Erica Ellis of the consulting firm Kerr Wood Leidal told the SCRD’s planning committee there’s been a lot of new research since the last DPA update in 1998.
Ellis says another area has been climate change research and sea level rise prediction, which was in its infancy in ’98.
Part of the new approach being recommended by the consultants is to identify the types of situations where DPAs are appropriate, instead of creating specific ones for each creek, etc.
