In 2009/2010 Howard examined reports prepared for the Shoalhaven City Council by the Snowy Mountains Engineering Consultants (SMEC). SMEC was asked to examine the effects of a 90 cms sea-level rise on Shoalhaven area properties sited either on headland cliffs or on dune systems adjacent to beaches. Howard’s reports, very critical of the SMEC reports, were based on his own field work, on aerial photographs of the Shoalhaven Coast taken since WWII, and also on geological studies by scientists at New England University and the University of Wollongong. Howard’s talk will cover the general development of the Sydney Basin Coast and its recent history since the last ice age.
