17 March 2008

Expressions of interest are now being sought to host and organise the 5th state coastal conference to be held in 2009.

“The conference will be an important opportunity to review changing coastal planning and management issues in the context of the major challenges of sustainability and maintaining the quality of our coastal environments at regional and state-wide levels," WAPC Chairman Jeremy Dawkins said.

“Hosting the coastal conference offers great potential to bring many positive benefits to the local community.”

The conference is a biennial event and has been staged on four occasions since 2001 with great success.

Prospective hosts are regional bodies, local governments or consortia that have the necessary resources to organise the conference.

The Shire of Denmark hosted the fourth conference, held in November 2007. The Shire heralded the conference as a great success, bringing many financial benefits to the Denmark community. 

"The conference inspired, informed and connected people. As the hosts of the conference, we had the opportunity to showcase the south coast region and highlight the plenitude of work being done to protect fragile coastal environmental landscapes,” Conference Coordinator Melinda Lyons said.

“The conference brought financial gains to the Denmark community and also, highlighted the range of excellent accommodation and activities that exist in the region for visitors. The 4th Western Australian State Coastal Conference 2007 was an enormous success."  

Expressions of interest close on Monday 28 April 2008.

Expression of interest guidelines and further information can be at http://www.wapc.wa.gov.au/Initiatives/Coast/EOI/default.aspx or by calling the Department for Planning and Infrastructure on (08) 9264 7914.

Media contact: Natasha Farrell 9264 7518 or 0408 955 604.