Can you imagine Portarlington in the future?

Parts of Portarlington are under threat of future coastal inundation caused by sea level rise driven by climate change. We’re interested in your vision of a sustainable future for Portarlington, so we’re talking to the community to help develop coastal adaptation plans.

Coastal communities like Portarlington are at the forefront of climate change in Australia. No-one knows exactly what this might mean but there are strong indications that future changes could include:

Extreme weather events
Rising sea levels
Hotter, drier summers
Warmer, wetter winters.

The Our Coast Project has recently completed the Geelong-Queenscliff Coastal Mapping Project, identifying areas that may experience sea level rise and storm surge under sea level rise and climate change. The research involved a technical assessment by consultants from Cardno, looking at issues including inundation, storm surge and erosion. The assessment includes maps of Portarlington and The Esplanade showing the potential impact of sea level rise scenarios and severe weather events.

Get involved

Recently an open house event was held in Indented Head for the areas of St Leonards, Indented Head and Portarlington. Unfortunately there were few Portarlington residents in attendance but you still have the opportunity to provide your views in an online feedback form, or leave a comment on the Our Coast website's Contact Us page. We're interested in your feedback and ideas for how we can plan to adapt to a changing climate together.

If there is enough interest there will be the opportunity for follow up workshops where everyone can provide suggestions for priority actions to be considered in the preparation of a local coastal management adaptation plan.