Choice modelling to determine the significance of environmental amenity and production alternatives in the community value of peri-urban land: Sunshine Coast, Australia

Expanding urban areas such as Queensland's Sunshine Coast face growing land use conflicts among urban, agricultural and conservation uses. Private allocation decisions influenced by potential market rents often exclude non-use value of environmental benefits leading to both socially undesirable and economically inefficient outcomes. We present the results of a choice modelling study in the Sunshine Coast to estimate community values for peri-urban land in production and conservation. We examine the implications of the value estimates in the optimal allocation of land for sugarcane on the basis of total economic value from all land uses including the preservation of unique and threatened vegetation.