Let the Games Begin

The South Australia Supreme Court has fired an opening volley in what is likely to be come a common legal battleground in coming years: what are local governments legally entitled (or obligated) to do to control coastal development in light of climate change and sea-level rise?

"'The rejection of a subdivision on Yorke Peninsula, west of Adelaide, is likely to be repeated across the country as councils progressively write climate change provisions into their planning regulations. The South Australian Supreme Court cited local sea level rises of 30cm over the next 50 years in ruling yesterday against Northcape Properties' plans for 80 holiday homes at Marion Bay, 150km west of Adelaide. The changes - which the court ruled was expected, not merely a probability - would encroach on the proposal's "erosion buffer and coastal reserve'."

This decision represents one of the first of its kind in Australia, but certainly not the last.