Planning for floods and coastal hazards

Help us better plan for floods and coastal hazards

Frankston City Council is working with Melbourne Water and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) to map where flooding and coastal hazards have occurred across Frankston City.

With up-to-date information on the extent of flooding and coastal hazards, we can better plan and manage risks, and build the resilience of our City.

How can you get involved?

Online map

The information we receive during our Phase 1 community engagement will be added to existing Council, DEECA and Melbourne Water data to create comprehensive flood and coastal hazard maps.

These maps can be used to inform planning controls, emergency management, community awareness and mitigation works where possible. This will help ensure future developments are better designed to avoid flooding and hazard impacts.

Drop in sessions

Visit us at the following drop-in sessions to learn about the project and share your knowledge in-person:

Thursday 21 November 2024 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm

Lyrebird Community Centre

203 Lyrebird Drive, Carrum Downs

Wednesday 27 November 2024 02:00 pm to 05:00 pm

Frankston North Community Centre

26 Mahogany Avenue, Frankston North.

Thursday 28 November 2024 11:00 am to 02:00 pm

Frankston Library

60 Playne Street, Frankston

'Follow' this page

How do we define a 'flood' and a 'coastal hazard'?

What is flooding?

Flooding and rising water levels are a natural occurrence across Victoria. All Councils have a role to play in building their community's resilience. This is in partnership with water authorities, emergency services and other government bodies.

Flooding can be influenced by factors including:

Severe rain events.
Land topography.
Capacity of the drainage system.
The extent that water can be absorbed into the ground.

In a Council context, flooding is defined as a natural yet persistent gathering of stormwater that disturbs the intended use of infrastructure and properties.

For this project, we have categorised different types of flooding in the following ways:

Flooding on public land

Includes flooding on streets, path and reserves.
Flooding on private land

Including flooding that enters private land and/or homes.

What is a coastal hazard?

Stretching from Kackeraboite Creek in the south to Keast Park in the north, our 9.5km of coastline is renowned as the most pristine and accessible stretch of foreshore on Port Phillip Bay.

However, natural processes such as erosion and inundation continually shape our diverse and dynamic coastline. We refer to these processes as coastal hazards when they could have an adverse impact on environmental, cultural, social and economic values along the coast.

Coastal hazard exposure occurs periodically across the coast, and is projected to increase with changes in wave action, storm activity and sea level rise associated with climate change.

Council is taking a strategic approach to coastal hazard risk management and adaptation. Learn more about our Coastal Resilience 2100 project, and more detail about the coastal hazards that impact our coastline here.

Types of coastal hazard

Erosion

Coastal erosion is the process of winds, waves and coastal currents shifting sediment, for example sand, silt, or soil away from a localised area of the shoreline.
Areas around Port Phillip Bay are prone to coastal erosion. Rising sea levels and bigger storms also mean waves can reach further onshore, which is likely to cause more erosion.
Inundation

Coastal inundation is flooding of low-lying land by seawater.
Some lower lying land around Port Phillip Bay is prone to coastal flooding.
With sea level rise, areas flooded by the sea during storms may become bigger.
Cliff instability

Like all coastal environments, cliffs are dynamic features subject to cracking, erosion and landslips. They are influenced by geological factors, weather events, wave action and erosion, groundwater seepage, vegetation changes, and human activity. These pressures often work in combination, making cliff instability an ongoing and complex issue.
It can be hard to accurately predict when landslips may occur. There is often no warning and the volume of material that falls can be very large.

Timeline

Timeline item 1 - complete

Phase 1: Community information gathering

6 November - 15 December 2024
Ask the community to review our map showing known flood and coastal hazard areas, and to share any additional flood and coastal hazard issues that they're aware of.
Timeline item 2 - incomplete

Phase 2: Updating community on our Flood Map and Coastal Hazard Map
2025
Council will use community feedback, existing data, and technical input from local emergency and water authorities to develop comprehensive flood and coastal hazard maps.
We will update our community on planned use of the maps for land use planning, community awareness and, where practicable, flood mitigation works.
The maps will:
- Help manage flood and hazard risk to life, property and community infrastructure.
- Help protect our floodplains.
- Improve coastal resilience.

FAQs

General

Council has committed to working with the Victorian Government to ensure flood and coastal hazards identified through the project are reflected in the planning systems, through a range of mechanisms that are still being explored. This may include planning scheme overlays, building and development controls and rezoning of land. These planning instruments are an important part in helping to avoid poor decisions that have lasting and costly impacts such as building in, developing and investing in areas that have increasing risks into the future.

The information we receive from the community during this engagement will be added to data already gathered by Council from previous community reports, DEECA and Melbourne Water. Once we have comprehensive flood and coastal hazard maps, this will inform planning controls that will ensure future developments are better designed to avoid flooding impacts.

Other Councils are undertaking updates such as new stormwater maps under the Building Regulations, Special Building Overlays (SBO) and Land Subject to Inundation Overlays (LSIO).

If Council intends at any time to introduce new planning overlay controls or amend existing controls, it would need to commence an entirely new planning scheme amendment process with the State Government. Any planning scheme amendment would need to be based on strategic justification and would involve consultation with the affected property owners. You would have a chance to submit a comment on any future planning amendments during the exhibition period.

We encourage you to ‘follow’ this page to receive updates on possible future planning changes.

All Councils have a role to play in building their community's resilience and many Councils across Victoria have been doing this work already, or are about to start.

With multiple Councils, Melbourne Water, and DEECA working on this at the same time, we've been able to collaborate, share insights, and benchmark our efforts to ensure that our modeling and preventive measures meet the diverse needs of our individual communities.

If the map marks your area with flood information, it does not mean there’s an immediate danger. The mapped information will be used to identify which areas are considered to be at higher risk of flooding during extreme and severe weather events. It is important that we gather all relevant information so that we can effectively manage, reduce and respond to the risks.  

Floods

Melbourne Water and Frankston City Council are working together to map where flooding has occurred across Frankston City's inland and coastal areas. This will provide up-to-date information on the extent of flooding across Frankston City.

With a comprehensive flood map, Melbourne Water and Council can facilitate robust planning for the future, and improve the resilience of our City. Our flood map will be used to support updates to Frankston City's Planning Scheme, emergency management, community awareness and, where practicable, flood mitigation works.

Melbourne Water is re-modelling the whole of the Melbourne riverine and drainage network.

Melbourne Water's Flood Strategy - Port Philip and Westernport (2021-2031) establishes a key objective to ensure “the right information is available at the right time to the people who need it.” The flood mapping project with Frankston City Council will provide fit-for-purpose flood maps indicating the location, extent, depth and velocity of flooding under both current and climate change conditions.

The Flood Mapping Project is planned for completion in mid-2025, the project is being delivered by Melbourne Water in partnership with Council.

The objective of this flood modelling study is to create new flood information for Council using current rainfall and land development data, flood modelling standards (such as Australian Rainfall and Runoff 2019) and modelling methods.

While the amount of rain falling over the whole year is likely to decrease, studies tell us with a high degree of confidence that the intensity of rare rainfall events are increasing.

Flooding and rising water levels are a natural occurrence across Victoria as a result of this, and all Councils have a role to play in building their community's resilience. This role is shared with water authorities, emergency services and other government bodies.

Council manages water and flooding to ensure the safety of our residents and the municipality. This is also required under the:

Water Act 1989 (Vic)
Building Act 1993 (Vic)
Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic)

Council's actions include:

maintaining the existing drainage network
undertaking periodic inspections
regularly cleaning pits and pipes
proactive planning of capital or renewal work
monitoring rainfall data and undertaking flood analysis
boosting community preparedness through education
identifying and upgrading critical drainage assets
encouraging permeable surfaces on new developments
creating new green spaces that absorbs stormwater

We are currently gathering information from the community to understand where flooding has occurred previously. This will then be added to Council and Melbourne Water's existing data to build a comprehensive flood map.

Coastal hazards

Council is also mapping hazards across Frankston City's 9.5km of coastline. Natural processes such as erosion and inundation continually shape our diverse and dynamic coastline. These 'coastal hazards' are projected to increase with changes in wave action, storm activity and sea level rise associated with climate change.

Building on the Port Phillip Bay Coastal Hazard Assessment released by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action in early 2024, Council is developing a comprehensive map of coastal hazards at a local scale, to support long-term adaptation planning and minimise vulnerability.

The Victorian State Government released the long-anticipated Port Phillip Bay Coastal Hazard Assessment (PPBCHA) data and reports on 11 January 2024. This information complements the Kompas et al 2023 report prepared for the Victorian Marine and Coastal Council (VMaCC) with support from Life Saving Victoria (LSV) and the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action (DEECA).

This new information is vital to guide Council’s long-term risk management and mitigation measures. Further work now needs to be done at our local level to understand the implications of the hazard assessment in terms of potential exposure, risk and cost.

Council commenced the Frankston City's Coastal Resilience 2100 Project (FCCR2100) in 2024. The FCCR2100 project follows the Victoria’s Resilient Coast: Adapting to 2100+ (VRC) framework set up by the State Government. Over the next 2 years, the FCCR2100 project will:

Undertake stages 1 to 4 of the VRC framework.
Incorporate the PPBCHA findings and other relevant data and/or information into the local assessment of coastal hazard exposure, vulnerability and risk.
Identify, and where appropriate, address gaps on the local and site level.
create a robust local benchmark for adaptation planning (adaptation planning will be based on stages 5 to 7 of the VRC framework).
align with the corresponding work undertaken by our neighbouring and broader bayside municipalities, ensuring a coordinated approach to this issue on a regional level.

Council adopted a Climate Change Strategy in April 2023. A vulnerability assessment was undertaken as part of its development, identifying the coastal and marine areas as the most vulnerable system in the municipality, followed by residents and businesses in coastal and low-lying areas, land subject to inundation and/or localised flooding in the top 10 vulnerable systems. The findings of this assessment informed several high priority actions that drive stronger climate action based on best available research and data that will guide Council’s strategies and planning scheme changes.

Council also adopted a Coastal and Marine Management Plan (CMMP) in July 2024. This comprehensive CMMP aims to protect and enhance the iconic Frankston and Seaford coastal and marine areas. From Olivers Hill to Seaford North, our CMMP:

Sets out our vision, objectives and actions for the management of our coastal and marine areas.
Features actions across all coastal precincts, focusing on building resilience of our marine and coastal environment, health of the natural coastal reserve, pedestrian access and connectivity.
Covers topics like access to the beach, water quality and marine life protection.

The CMMP aligns with current legislation, policies and guidelines of the Victorian State Government. This legislation includes the Marine and Coastal Policy (2020) that specifies the climate change adaptation pathway approach to planning for the impacts of sea level rise and storm surges. The Marine and Coastal Policy (Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, March 2020) sets out the policy and strategic direction for responding to coastal hazard risks in the context of climate change. It identifies the need to:
“Plan for sea-level rise of not less than 0.8 metres by 2100, and allow for the combined effects of tides, storm surges, coastal processes and local conditions such as topography and geology when assessing risks and impacts associated with climate change.”

Roles and responsibilities in water management

Victorian State Emergency Service (SES)
VICSES is the designated control agency for floods in Victoria. It is responsible for:
Leading emergency preparation and response
Providing emergency assistance when flooding occurs
Delivering community awareness and education programs.
Learn more about SES flood resources here
Property Owners
Property owners are responsible for:
Taking reasonable measures to ensure their properties are protected from the larger storm events
Ensuring all private pipes, gutters and downpipes are regularly maintained and kept clear
Reporting any issue that they observe with drainage to Council
Understand their risk exposure based on available information, and act responsibly in light of that information.
Frankston City Council
We manage local street gutters and drains (while Department of Transport manages major road drainage assets).
We're also responsible for:
Administering and enforcing planning schemes
Undertaking flood modelling and mapping of local drainage systems
Supporting local flood planning and coordinating local emergency planning
Supporting development of community resilience.
Long-term risk management, adaptation and mitigation, including as part of the Coastal Resilience 2100 project (see link below).
Learn about our Coastal Resilience 2100 project
Melbourne Water
Melbourne Water is the region's floodplain manager. Their role is to coordinate the development and delivery of the Flood Management Strategy and drainage services in partnership with:
Local and state government
Emergency services
Insurance agencies
The community.
Learn about the Flood Management Strategy here
Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action
DEECA works to protect and enhance our coastline and its waters to support business, tourism, recreation, wellbeing and biodiversity. It's programs include:
Modelling and analysis to better understand current and future coastal hazards.
Monitoring waves and coastal changes at priority sites.
Supporting community groups and volunteers to protect and enhance Victoria's coastline.

Engage Frankston!

Planning for floods and coastal hazards

Help us better plan for floods and coastal hazards

How can you get involved?

Online map

Drop in sessions

Visit us at the following drop-in sessions to learn about the project and share your knowledge in-person:

Thursday 21 November 2024 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm

Wednesday 27 November 2024 02:00 pm to 05:00 pm

Thursday 28 November 2024 11:00 am to 02:00 pm

'Follow' this page

How do we define a 'flood' and a 'coastal hazard'?

What is flooding?

Flooding on public land

Flooding on private land

What is a coastal hazard?

Types of coastal hazard

Erosion

Inundation

Cliff instability

Roles and responsibilities in water management

Victorian State Emergency Service (SES)

Property Owners

Frankston City Council

Melbourne Water

Department of Energy, Environment & Climate Action

Isuru Thilakaratne

Coordinator Engineering Strategy

Jana Mrazova

Coastal Planning and Policy Officer

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

Translation and accessibility

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