For more than five years, the Beach Matters Community has worked with Sunshine Coast Council to provide practical, evidence-based, and lived-experience solutions to protect our beaches. While some progress has been made, many critical issues remain unresolved. It's time for meaningful action to protect, preserve and care for the beaches that define our lifestyle, environment and economy.

The Sunshine Coast is famous for its beaches. They are more than places to swim and surf—they are the heart of our community, our wellbeing, our tourism economy, our wildlife habitat and our way of life.

For over five years, the Beach Matters Community has worked constructively with Council by providing research, on-ground observations, practical solutions and thousands of volunteer hours to help care for our coastline. Yet many long-standing issues continue to go unaddressed while our beaches, dunes, vegetation and surf amenity face increasing pressure from erosion, poor planning, pollution and a lack of active beach management.

Our beaches deserve better.

We are calling on Sunshine Coast Council to make beach protection a genuine priority by committing to:

• Establishing an active, dedicated Beach Crew responsible for regular beach monitoring, cleaning, education and dune protection.
• Better protecting dunes, native vegetation and wildlife through improved signage, fencing, restoration and compliance.
• Ensuring coastal planning and development decisions prioritise long-term beach health, sand movement, surf amenity and the Blue Economy.
• Working collaboratively with beach community groups, scientists, beach users and local stakeholders during the planning or drafting of major coastal projects like sand-pumping, and any works that are beach-related, as well as doing the geomorphology and oceanography studies, including robust surf impact studies that the Gold Coast do.
• Investing in education so residents and visitors understand how to protect and respect our beaches and the wildlife that depends on them.
• Improving transparency, communication and process with the community on coastal projects, beach management and environmental decisions.
  
  

Our beaches are our greatest natural asset. Once they are damaged, they are expensive—and in some cases impossible—to restore.

We call on Sunshine Coast Council to:
 

1. Create a dedicated Beach Crew to actively monitor, maintain and protect our beaches.
2. Prioritise dune, vegetation and wildlife protection across all beaches.
3. Adopt sustainable coastal management practices that protect sand movement, surf amenity and the Blue Economy.
4. Improve transparency and genuine community consultation on coastal projects and planning decisions.
5. Work collaboratively with Beach Matters, local beach experts, the Sunshine Coast University Coastal Geomorphology Unit, and beach community stakeholders to develop practical long-term solutions for our coastline.

By signing this petition, you are asking Sunshine Coast Council to take practical, proactive action to better protect, preserve, care for and manage our beaches for current and future generations.

If you love our beaches, now is the time to stand up for them. 

Please sign and share this petition.