Coastal Protection
State Environmental Planning Policy No. 71 - Coastal Protection
The State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) No. 71 - Coastal Protection commenced on 1 November 2003. It is a key element of the NSW Government's $11.7 million Coastal Protection Package announced by the Premier on 26 June 2001 to protect the State's beaches, headlands and other coastal features for future generations.
The Policy has been made under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 to ensure:
- development in the NSW coastal zone is appropriate and suitably located
- there is a consistent and strategic approach to coastal planning and management
- there is a clear development assessment framework for the coastal zone.
The Policy has been amended three times: Amendment No. 1 commenced on 8 January 2003 and clarified the application of the policy in respect of land to which SEPP 62 - Sustainable Aquaculture applies. Amendment No. 2 commenced on 1 August 2003 to address an immediate issue of getting the Government out of minor matters with respect to development applications. Amendment No. 3 commenced on 12 March 2004 to provide more stringent controls in relation to master plans and clarify the application of the policy in certain circumstances when concurrence is required or can be assumed.
A copy of the SEPP 71 is available from the NSW Government legislation website.
Further information
Coastal Policy Unit
Phone: 02 9228 6549
Email: information@planning.nsw.gov.au
Coastal Lands Protection Scheme (CLPS)
The Coastal Lands Protection Scheme is used to bring significant coastal lands into public ownership and provides for their long term management and care. The Department administers the Scheme which receives an annual budget allocation of $3 million for acquisitions.
The Scheme, which commenced in 1973, identified certain lands to be protected and acquired. These lands usually included features such as headlands, dunes, hinterland, coastal lagoons and lakes, particularly where the original vegetation was still dominant. More recently the Scheme has been used to acquire additional lands on an opportunistic basis, if they meet certain criteria.
The main criteria for acquisition under the Scheme are:
- Public access: to promote public access to the coastal foreshore.
- Scenic quality: to maintain the scenic quality of the NSW coast to ensure degradation of scenic areas does not occur.
- Ecological values: to protect ecological sites of regional, state and/or national significance.
Since the Scheme commenced approximately 15,346 hectares at a total cost of $69.77 million have been acquired (as at June 2008). By identifying, acquiring and reserving land we have been able to create new coastal national parks and reserves for public enjoyment.
The Office of Strategic Lands (OSL) works with the department to negotiate purchases under the Scheme. The OSL arranges the transfer of land to management agencies such as the Department of Environment and Conservation (for a national park), the Department of Lands (for a Crown Reserve) or the local council (for a public reserve).
Further information
T 02 9228 6557
E julie.conlon@planning.nsw.gov.au
Comprehensive Coastal Assessment (CCA)
The Comprehensive Coastal Assessment is another key element of the NSW Government's Coastal Protection Package. It is a whole-of-government $8.6 million three-year program that aims to identify, analyse and assess data and information on the physical, biological, social and economic values of the State's coastline. The Department's Resource and Conservation Division is responsible for the CCA - they can be contacted on either of the details provided below.
Further informationFact Sheet - Comprehensive Coastal Assessment (pdf file)
Further information
T 02 9228 6482
E info.racd@planning.nsw.gov.au
NSW Coastline Cycleway
The former Minister for Planning, Dr Andrew Refshauge, announced the NSW Coastline Cycleway project in March 2003 which will provide $6 million in seed funding as part of a larger Coastal Protection Package. The $6 million is available from 1 July 2003 and is to be spent at $1.5m per annum over the next four years. The funding is available for project management and grants for cycleway projects and is to be matched dollar-for-dollar by the participating councils along the route.
The NSW Coastline Cycleway project is based on a 30-year-old vision of retired urban planning academic Elias Duek-Cohen. With assistance from the 26 NSW non-Sydney metropolitan coastline councils and other organisations, he has defined a route stretching some 1500km from the Queensland border to the Victorian border. The route is shown in a set of five studies which were coordinated by Bicycle NSW and largely funded by the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority.
The route aims to avoid major roads and highways and link together the string of communities along the NSW coastline. Approximately 12% of the route already exists in the form of council-provided cycleways, while other parts of the route follows existing back roads and fire trails. The key benefits include bicycle transport, bicycle-tourism and the growth of bicycle-tourism industries.
Further information
T 02 9228 6270
E anna.mcdonald@planning.nsw.gov.au
The Department is involved in a variety of other coastal protection initiatives. Information on these will be added to this part of the website shortly.