Sydney Water’s 2022 Community Grants for Healthy Waterways

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Sydney Water has recently launched its 2022 community grants program – with a focus on healthy waterways, including keeping our waterways clean, stormwater in a built environment and safely enjoying our local waterways.

If you know a community group that share’s Sydney Water’s vision of building healthy waterways to create a better life for today and generations to come, then refer them here for guidelines, T&Cs and a link to the application form.

Applications close 5pm, 26 August 2022.

Coastal Design Guidelines on Public Exhibition

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NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) is making changes to the to the Coastal Design Guidelines to maintain healthy coastal habitats with sustainable use and development. The review is an action under the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy 2018-2028.

The revised Coastal Design Guidelines prepared by DPE-Planning have been placed on public exhibition.

The Guidelines will inform planning proposals in the coastal zone and they should be used by anyone seeking to change local planning controls in those areas. This includes local councils, landowners and developers, and any third parties acting on their behalf.

The updated draft Guidelines also provide guidance on best practice urban design within coastal areas. They can be used by designers, architects, landscapers and home builders to support the design of projects in the coastal zone when preparing master plans or development applications.

The exhibition period is from 29 July to 9 September 2022.

For details and to provide feedback see here.

Guideline on Integrating Catchment Issues into CMPs

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NSW Department of Planning and Environment has released the Coastal Management Programs and Integration with Catchment Management document, which can also be found in the Coastal Management Toolkit.

The document provides advice to councils and consultants that are preparing and implementing Coastal Management Programs that may need to consider broader catchment management objectives and actions, which reside outside the coastal zone.

Video: Sydney Water Boat Tour and Urban Plunge Program

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The SCCG attended a Sydney Water Boat tour on the 30 June which showcased the role of Sydney Water in contributing to a healthy and swimmable harbour and to demonstrate the work of their waterway monitoring team.

To find out more about the day and Sydney Water’s Urban Plunge Program, watch this short video by the Sydney Water Media Team here. 

State of the Environment Report 2021

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On Tuesday 19 July, Minister Plibersek released the State of the Environment (SoE) report with a chapter dedicated each to Coasts and the Marine environment.

The four main findings from the Coasts Chapter include:

  1. Coasts are a zone of concentrated biodiversity and productivity
  2. Coasts are under pressure
  3. Climate change will have profound impacts on our coast, particularly sea-level rise, and
  4. Consistent and coordinated management approaches, involving Traditional Custodians, are needed to protect our coasts.

The four main findings from the Marine Chapter include:

  1. Climate change is affecting fundamental aspects of our oceans and increasing the impact of other pressures
  2. Many Australian marine habitats are healthy, but our reefs are declining
  3. Better monitoring and marine management are needed
  4. Even the best management will not stop environmental decline if we do not address climate change and cumulative effects

The SoE report also recognised that it is essential for environmental outcomes that Indigenous people are involved in the management of land and sea country.