By Angela Dorizas

Local government will continue to have its say on coastal adaptation with the reappointment of the Coasts and Climate Change Council.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, said the principal focus of the council would be on advising government on progressing coastal adaptation.

Mr Combet said the Council would have a “vital role” in consulting with experts and “feeding this valuable information into government policy”.

“The extension of the Council’s term will enable it to support the Government, which is focused on co-ordinated and effective action along Australia’s vast coastline in preparing for climate change,” he said in a statement.

Professor Bruce Thom has been appointed chair of the Council, replacing Professor Tim Flannery who is now chief commissioner of the newly established Climate Commission.

Thom is a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, emeritus professor at the University of Sydney and president of the Australian Coastal Society.

Local government is represented on the Council by Genia McCaffery, president of the Australian Local Government Association; Paddi Creevey, Mayor of Mandurah City; and Lorraine Pyefinch, Mayor of Bundaberg Regional Council.

The first meeting of the newly reappointed Council was held on March 2. The term of the Council has been extended until December 2011.