Help shape the future of Moffat Beach
Share your thoughts on the Moffat Beach Place Plan, Moffat Beach Seawall Draft Landscape Plan, and the Moffat Headland Railing Renewal and Enhancement project.
The future of a beloved coastal pocket on the Sunshine Coast is open for discussion and our community is invited to have their say.
Moffat Beach is a cherished spot for both locals and tourists, and continues to grow in popularity.
It is known for its relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere, great surf breaks, stunning ocean views and Norfolk Island Pine trees.
The beach, headland and green spaces play host to activities like picnics and gatherings, taking in the view, walking, exercising and surfing events.
The vibrant town centre and surrounds are home to businesses offering places to eat, drink and shop.
Beginning in May this year, the seawall will be reconstructed after the western section was damaged by severe weather and rainfall in 2022, and the middle section in early 2024.
Three Moffat Beach plans for feedback
With this in mind, Sunshine Coast Council has shared three projects for feedback that focus on a long-term vision and plan for the suburb’s public spaces, as well as more immediate planning for the parkland at Moffat Beach and Moffat Headland.
These are the Moffat Beach Place Plan, Moffat Beach Seawall Draft Landscape Plan, and the Moffat Headland Railing Renewal and Enhancement project.
Visit Have your Say Sunshine Coast to share your feedback and find out how you can get involved from Wednesday March 19 to Wednesday April 16, 2025.
Creating a vibrant future
Sunshine Coast Council Division 2 Councillor Terry Landsberg said Council’s goal was to ensure community safety and sustainability, while setting up Moffat Beach for a vibrant future.
“We are working with our community to nurture and enhance our environment and quality of life at Moffat Beach,” Cr Landsberg said.
“The Moffat Beach Place Plan project will capture our community’s values and create a long-term vision for the future direction of public spaces across the entire suburb.
“In the shorter-term, the park and landscaping behind the seawall will be impacted during the reconstruction project – and will need to be reinstated.
“This is an opportunity to do so with improvements to give the community back parkland that would otherwise have been lost because of the reconstructed seawall alignment.
“I encourage locals and visitors to the area to take the time to share their views before April 16.
“Together, we can ensure a safe and thriving Moffat Beach for generations to come.”
Moffat Beach Place Plan
The Moffat Beach Place Plan considers public spaces across the entire suburb and seeks to capture our community’s values and long-term vision for the area.
It will guide how we can improve and manage spaces like the streets and parks, where we walk, gather and interact with each other.
It considers how we can make it safer and easier for people to walk around the suburb and reinforce the unique Moffat Beach character.
The Moffat Beach Place Plan considers public spaces across the entire suburb.
While Council has committed funds to develop the Place Plan in 2024 and 2025, there are currently no funds committed to implement projects that arise from the plan.
However, it will help to guide future opportunities for grants and other funding sources.
Development of the Moffat Beach Place Plan will be broken into three stages, with the first stage starting now for feedback.
Moffat Beach Seawall Draft Landscape Plan
Reconstruction of the Moffat Beach seawall is due to begin mid-year after Council recently received all necessary approvals to proceed.
Council has worked closely with the community to understand their values and balance the impact on those values, including the Norfolk Island Pine trees, cultural heritage, local events, beach and parkland, through the design of the seawall.
A hybrid seawall alignment has been designed. This moves the wall out onto the beach between the central and the eastern end and back into the parkland at the western end.
This hybrid layout balances the loss of open space on the beach and in the parkland.
This alignment gives the best chance of preserving the Norfolk Island Pine trees with the least impact to the beach and the park.
It also means we have a fantastic opportunity to review the park area immediately behind the seawall to ensure we maximise the available parkland and improve the open space.
Car park redesign creates more green space
The draft landscape plan considers the location of picnic tables, seating benches, beach accesses and showers, garden bed areas and tree plantings in the parkland.
The layout also extends a wider upgraded coastal pathway through the space and will improve the safety of the pedestrian connection to the shops by reducing conflict with vehicles.
The draft landscape plan looks at an option to reduce the existing footprint of the Eleanor Shipley car park and reorganise it to achieve a more efficient layout - all while keeping the same number of parking spaces.
The design reclaims 670m2 of carpark to become high-quality open space in a prime location directly behind the new seawall.
Overall, the design achieves a net gain of 40m2 of open space in the parkland.
This is an important part of proposal because if we kept the old carpark layout, then with the seawall shifting landward in this area it would leave only narrow strip to be taken up by the coastal pathway leaving no room for seating or trees.
The draft landscape plan also suggests succession planting of the Norfolk Island Pine trees - which is the concept of planting new trees near existing maturing trees.
This is so as the older trees progressively decline (as all natural living things do) the younger trees are established and have grown ready to take their place.
These landscape ideas are now available for community feedback.
Headland Railing Renewal and Enhancement project
Moffat Headland pathway
Moffat Headland provides stunning coastal views and excellent opportunities to walk, run or ride along the scenic coastal pathway as well as to enjoy the open lawn areas for picnicking and soaking up the local ambience.
It is highly valued by our community and is a significant landmark and cultural feature of the region.
The railings currently in place along the headland need to be replaced and upgraded due to their condition, and to meet current standards.
This project is considering options to renew the existing railings on the headland and considers options to improve safety and amenity along the rest of the headland.
Our goal is to improve safety and amenity for all users of the headland including the public and the workers who maintain and manage this beautiful space for our community.
You are encouraged to provide feedback on the options presented for the Headland Railing Renewal and Enhancement project before Wednesday, April 16, 2025.
How you can get involved
Drop in to a pop up in the park
Wednesday March 26, 2025, 6am-11am at the rotunda next to the Moffat Beach Park playground, Queen of Colonies Parade.
Saturday March 29, 2025, 10am-3pm at the rotunda next to the Moffat Beach Park playground, Queen of Colonies Parade.
Register for the Moffat Beach Place Plan workshop
Register your interest to attend the Moffat Beach Place Plan workshop:
Date: April 3, 2025
Time: 5.30pm - 8pm
Location: CCSA Hall, 1 Nutley Street, Caloundra
Complete the surveys
Complete the online survey for each project at haveyoursay.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au between Wednesday March 19 to Wednesday April 16, 2025.