The Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania (PMAT) thanks the Tasmanian Planning Commission for the opportunity to comment on the State Coastal Policy draft amendment 01-2025.

Public comment was invited between the 30 June and the 25 August 2025.

The Tasmanian Government is proposing major changes to Tasmania’s State Coastal Policy, which will have serious consequences for the future of lutruwita/Tasmania’s coastlines.

The proposed changes will profoundly weaken the State Coastal Policy and the way Lutruwita/Tasmania’s coasts are managed and protected. The proposed amendment removes key protections for actively mobile landforms as it would weaken protections and allow development on hazardous land such as sand dunes/frontal dunes and erodible soft sediment coastlines.

Tasmania’s coast is unique and largely unspoilt, thanks to the State Coastal Policy, which has protected it for almost 30 years. Tasmania’s coasts are one of the most ecologically and culturally important in Australia. It’s home to
endangered species, dynamic landforms, cultural heritage, and natural defences against the impacts of climate change such as rising seas and storms.

PMAT does not support the proposed amendment to the State Coastal Policy 1996 and recommends it be abandoned, for the following key reasons, which are outlined in more detail in the document below: