Overview of studies and methodology

I have been the lead researcher in three studies that have developed a methodology to assess and map the social and recreational values of the coast in Australia. The first study was of the Perth beaches (see also a separate webpage on this - click here) and the second and third studies were of the coast of the Central Coast Council in NSW and their large lakes.

Much has been written about the benefits of outdoor recreation, and for many users, coastal foreshores provide a range of recreational opportunities both passive and active. The coast is the most popular areas for outdoor recreation for most coastal local governments. The coast is also a significant designation for tourists and provides significant local economic benifts. Research suggests that an important aim in providing outdoor recreation should be to enhance the users’ experiences. A positive experience will encourage people to continue that activity at a specific location, and will add to a user’s attachment to that place. As well, strong place attachment can be a strong mechanism for community-led action in place management, for example Coastcare groups. Coastal foreshore management is usually facilitated though the implementation of approved coastal management plans and local land use plans. These plans cannot show how the coast is actually being used and what management issues have emerged.

These above studied and report mapping and inventorying existing infrastructure, which lead to the identification of emerging issues and recommendations to address those issues. As well, an innovative coastal classification system was developed which complemented existing planning and enabled the coast to be better visualised and provided a planning platform for future revisions of existing planning documents.

You can download and read the report clicking on the links below. I am unable to upload a single copy of each report given that each is well over 70Mb (lots of photos!) so I have broken each report into sections of less than 20Mb. Please email me if you want any further information or if you want a consolidated copy of one or more of the reports - I can make these available through Dropbox:

  1. Perth Coastal Recreational use study

    1. Part A

    2. Part B(1)

    3. Part B(2);

  2. Central Coast Recreational Use Study Stage 1: Open Coast and Coastal Lagoons;

    1. Part A

    2. Part B(1)

    3. Part 2(2)

    4. Part B(3)

    5. Part C

  1. Central Coast Recreational Use Study Stage 2: The Tuggerah Lakes.

    1. Part A

    2. Part B(1)

    3. Part B(2)

    4. Part B(3)

    5. Part C

Happy reading.