Abstract
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.
