Coastal planning grants

Program details

The coastal planning grants program provides funding to help local government with planning scheme implementation of:

state funded local coastal hazard assessments
land use planning components of any coastal adaptation planning
hazard assessment and risk analysis conducted by councils and supported by the state.

Status: applications are now closed

Applications closed Thursday 18 May 2023.

Who can apply?

Coastal local government councils and partner local councils acting under the auspices of Regional and Strategic Partnerships established under the Marine and Coastal Act 2018 who:

have undertaken or are undertaking local coastal hazard assessments or coastal adaptation planning or hazard assessments
have not received funding from the State Government's Coastal Planning Program or its predecessors for the project
are seeking to develop and exhibit planning scheme-related responses to sea level rise and coastal climate change adaptation.

What the grants can fund

The funding is aimed at supporting coastal adaptation settlement planning undertaken by councils and Regional and Strategic Partnerships in priority locations, including in a regional context, to help manage future sea level rise-related challenges. It is administered through the Planning portfolio of the Department of Transport and Planning.

As localised hazard assessments are completed, and the extent of the possible hazard at this more detailed level is known or becomes clearer, updates to planning schemes may be needed. Additional requirements can be used to mitigate the identified impacts on future communities in areas identified as affected by sea level rise vulnerability or other coastal climate change hazards.

For example, this could be done through:

a review of existing relevant strategic planning documents, such as structure plans
a review of local planning policy
the development of new strategic planning documents and local planning policy to guide land use and development decision making
application of planning controls
engagement of land use planning expertise in local coastal climate change adaptation.

The funding can be used for the planning scheme amendment process, including the planning panels process, to implement adopted local coastal hazard assessments or coastal adaptation planning and associated risk analysis, and strategic planning undertaken for this purpose in the planning scheme.

What the grants cannot fund

The grants aim to complement (and cannot duplicate) the former State Future Coasts program. It cannot fund activities that either were funded or which would have been eligible for funding under that program, including:

sea level rise-related data collection
hazard assessment and peer review of data
data mapping
coastal erosion analysis and/or assessment
or any local coastal hazard assessment and associated explanatory material.

The Coastal planning grants program cannot fund:

any activities which would be eligible for funding under any other State Government program relating to Crown land and coastal climate change
any review of climate science
any review of state policy, or the Victoria Planning Provisions
any capital works.