A cost-benefit study of protection of the northern beaches of Australia's Gold Coast

Ocean beaches are a valuable recreation asset for local residents and tourists, and beachside communities throughout the world have adopted a variety of engineering strategies to protect this asset from the natural forces of erosion. Increasingly the proponents of such schemes are expected to demonstrate the economic benefits of these projects. The study reported is a benefit-cost assessment of beach nourishment works planned for the northern beaches of the Gold Coast region in Queensland, Australia. Data covering past beach erosion events in the region are used to estimate the effects of beach erosion on tourism receipts and public assets located at beachside. Losses in these two areas are seen to far exceed the cost of protecting the beaches from storm damage, and of restoring them quickly after damage, and expenditure on such programmes has high ratios of benefit to cost.