Urban floodplain land-use acceptable risk?

There has been little research to examine how the flood standards adopted as 'acceptable risks' by decision makers such as local government (and communicated via a technical language) are interpreted by other stakeholders, and whether the formal standards can be accurately labelled 'acceptable risks'. This paper presents a study, based on a Queensland local government area the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC), examining the flood risks perceived 'acceptable' by the stakeholders. These stakeholders include local government, the residents and the development industry within a potentially flood-affected urban area of Guragunbah and the surrounding suburbs within the Nerang River catchment.