FAQs
What is the City’s role in coast and estuary management?
The City is responsible for preparing Coastal Management Programs for its estuaries and coastline. This is a requirement under NSW Government Legislation. The City has two Certified CMPs (Bonville Pine Creek and Woolgoolga Regions Estuaries CMPs) and currently has three others in various stages of preparation, for; Arrawarra Creek, Pipe Clay Lake and Corindi River Estuaries (this CMP); Central Coffs Estuaries; and the Coffs Harbour Open Coast.
To develop CMPs the City is required to bring together all relevant stakeholders and the community, to develop long-term strategies for the management of the coast and estuaries to improve and maintain their environmental, social, cultural and recreational values and manage the current and emerging issues.
How was the draft CMP developed?
Along with technical studies, the Draft CMP has been developed in consultation with the community and key stakeholders. From 2020 to mid-2023, we invited the community to share their thoughts and feedback via surveys and interactive workshops.
In consultation with the community, we identified and developed a list of potential management options to address identified issues which were then ranked and prioritised to develop a suite of draft management actions.
These draft actions were then refined after further consultation with stakeholders to produce the final draft management actions. The draft CMP outlines the actions to be implemented, including the responsibilities, timing, and cost.
Management actions include activities related to:
• land use planning
• foreshore management
• stormwater and water quality outcomes, and
• environmental monitoring
How were the draft management actions selected?
Management actions were developed and prioritised through a risk assessment process focusing on issues and threats to the estuaries identified through scientific studies and community consultation. The risk assessment process came up with a long list of potential actions which were grouped and combined where appropriate and assessed for their feasibility, producing a final list of draft management actions.
Is the CMP a whole of government document?
The CMP is a whole of government document. It is not just a Program for Council. Numerous government and community stakeholders were involved in developing the final draft management actions making up the draft CMP. The draft CMP outlines the actions to be implemented, including the responsibilities of Council and other agencies, and anticipated timing and cost.
Who has responsibility for implementing management actions?
Numerous NSW Government Agencies, the City, local communities and land owners and managers have roles in leading or supporting the implementation of the management actions. The majority of actions will be led by the City with support being provided by others.
Why are there some draft actions that were either varied or not included in the final Draft CMP?
Earlier stages of the draft CMP contained more detailed actions, and in some cases multiple actions were consolidated into single broader actions for the final version of the CMP or were not included as they did not gain the required support from the responsible agency or land manager.
Management of the estuaries and coastal zone is a complex situation involving multiple land tenures, conflicting land uses and a suite of government agencies with various roles in their regulation, usage and management.
Some of the issues and suggestions raised in the consultation phases proved beyond the scope, capability or influence of a Coastal Management Program. One such example is the Management Action about improving public access to Arrawarra Beach. In this case, a variety of options were explored to improve public access but in the end the outcome of the action was restricted by existing land tenure, infrastructure ownership and licencing arrangements.
How has land tenure affected the final draft management actions?
The CMP process requires the responsible agency (or Crown Land manager in the case of Crown Reserves) to agree to the proposed actions. Where this could not be achieved, actions had to be varied, simplified or removed.
Read about the earlier stages of the Program HERE
What are the next steps?
Feedback received from the community and stakeholders is an important part of the preparation of the Coastal Management Program. Following the exhibition period, we will review all submissions received and prepare a final version of the CMP. The CMP will then be reported to Council for adoption together with submissions received.