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Department of Planning Industry and Environment – Crown Lands recently released a request for all coastal councils via email.

The request centres around helping to manage the growing amount of apparent unauthorised development occurring along coastal waterways, particularly adjoining freehold properties. Crown Lands requests that councils insert a deferred or standard condition in all development consents that relate to works located on foreshore Crown land and waterways. The condition would refer the applicant back to the department to enable licencing before construction takes place.

The request may be accessed here. For further information contact Crown Lands on 1300 886 235 or email to cl.compliance@crownland.nsw.gov.au

Forecast wet weather signals need for builders to Get the Site Right

With higher than average rainfall predicted for Sydney and surrounding regions throughout the remainder of 2020, builders and home renovators are urged to get their sites right to avoid needless pollution of local waterways.

Forecasts from the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology show a high chance of La Niña developing in the coming months, as well as a positive Southern Annular Mode, which will bring wetter than average conditions across much of eastern Australia, particularly during October.[1]

To prepare for the spring and summer rainfall surge, councils, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) will be conducting a one-day inspection blitz of building sites across Sydney and the Hunter Coast on Wednesday, 21 October, as part of the Get the Site Right campaign.

The campaign encourages developers, builders and home renovators to implement erosion and sediment controls to prevent sediment runoff from being washed or blown off their sites into stormwater drains and out to local creeks and rivers.

The one-day blitz aims to build on the results of the month-long Get the Site Right campaign in May 2020 which showed a 10 per cent improvement in compliance rates from the previous year.

EPA Director Regulatory Operations Metropolitan, Giselle Howard, said sediment runoff has a significant impact on the environment and can be costly for builders and developers.

“Large building sites can lose up to four truckloads of soil in one storm if not properly contained,” Ms Howard said.

“This is a considerable waste of building material and money which is literally going down the drain – and can also expose builders and developers to significant fines for poor site compliance.

“The impact of sediment runoff on the environment is considerably higher, harming precious aquatic life and eroding creeks and riverbanks, and also damaging stormwater infrastructure which can be expensive to repair.”

Now in its fifth year, Get the Site Right is a joint program between the Cooks River Alliance, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Georges Riverkeeper, EPA, Parramatta River Catchment Group, Sydney Coastal Councils Group, Sydney councils and Lake Macquarie Council.

Members of the public who may be out exercising near our waterways are encouraged to report pollution incidents, including poor sediment control, to their local council or the EPA’s 24/7 Environment Line on 131 555.

[1]  http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/ahead/outlooks/

DPIE recently released a planning circular on coastal vulnerability area mapping and the process needed for updating Coastal Management SEPP maps.

Fact Sheet No 5 will help local councils preparing planning proposals to map coastal vulnerability areas (CVA) for the purposes of the Coastal Management Act 2016 and State Environmental
Planning Policy (Coastal Management) 2018 (the Coastal Management SEPP).

For more information, visit the DPIE’s Coastal Management webpage.

Stormwater NSW has released its Guidelines for Stormwater Treatment Maintenance. The Guidelines are aimed at assisting owners and operators of stormwater treatment infrastructure to inspect, identify issues, and identify maintenance responses.

Training on how to apply the Guidelines is also available! Visit the Stormwater NSW page to register your interest. Updated copies of the Guidelines will be circulated annually to those who participate in these training workshops.

 

 

A joint collaborative initiative between the Sydney Institute of Marine Science and Macquarie and UNSW researchers appears promising in its aim to improve the ecological performance of seawalls and other marine build infrastructure. The Living Seawalls initiative partnered with Reef Design Lab, to develop habitat modules that can be attached to seawalls to increase habitat area and add missing microhabitats such as rockpools and crevices. So far in 2020, the team has installed new panels at several locations including Blues Point, Clontarf, Fairlight, and Rushcutters Bay complementing earlier installations at Milsons Point and McMahons Point.