Author(s)

G. Middle

Abstract

Coastal policy in Western Australia - assessing the importance of policies in ensuring the sustainable use of the coast G. Middle Department of Urban & Regional Planning, Curtin University of Technology Abstract Four general perspectives on environmental policy making are identified: conventional modem, ecological modem, reflexive modern and post modern. An assessment of these perspectives against six coastal sustainability criteria suggests that policy making that adopts key elements of a post modem perspective would most likely deliver sustainable management where there is high public interest and the science hghly contested, although the other approaches could work in circumstances where those two preconditions do not apply. Ths suggestion is explored in a case study of policy making in Cockburn Sound, 20km south of the Western Australia's capital city, Perth. Two policies were examined in detail, one showing key elements of an ecological modern approach and the other elements of a post mo

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