Urban Consolidation

Moffat Beach

Task 1: Individual Essay

21 March 2013

The Sunshine Coast region faces many challenges in regards to urban sprawl and population growth, with studies showing that an expected extra 98,000 dwellings may be required to house the population by 2031 (SEQRP 2009, p.91). Data also shows that the largest percentage change in dwelling types between 2006 and 2011 on the Sunshine Coast have been identified as separate houses at 13.3% and a drop recorded during the same period for medium and high density residences (Profile.id 2012). This highlights the urgency of a more dense urban form required within the region, and in the study area chosen, Moffat Beach. Moffat Beach currently falls under the Caloundra City Plan 2004, one of the three planning schemes being incorporated into the new Draft Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme, currently being implemented. By changing schemes, it is hoped growth issues may be able to be contained.

In 2011, 75.9% of residences in Moffat Beach are separate houses, containing on average 2.4 persons per household (ABS 2011), and while high density multi-storey buildings are found around the headland (Appendix.3), detached housing is the distinguishing feature of the landscape. Single houses have been identified now as an undesirable housing form under the South-East Queensland Regional Plan 2009-2031(SEQRP), which as a statutory guide for development in Moffat Beach, suggests future development ‘lies in a more compact form’ (England 2011, p.58). The SEQRP also believes that development should accommodate growth through ‘infill and redevelopment of existing urban areas’ (Queensland Government 2009, DRO-8). Moffat Beach is also guided by the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (SPA), that seeks to achieve ecological sustainability and deliver sustainable outcomes in regards to development in Queensland (Queensland Government 2013, p.6), managing the process by which all development takes place.

Sustainable development is...