Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional legal opinion.
Briefing Paper No. 12/1998 by Stewart Smith
Page Content
- The planning and management of Sydney Harbour foreshores
provide a good example of how difficult it is to manage public and private land
to protect a natural asset such as Sydney Harbour. Important participants
include numerous local councils, State Government agencies, the Commonwealth
Government, and developers keen to redevelop old industrial sites. The
combination of all these makes a formidable planning challenge (page 1).
- The State Government has recognised that the planning and
management of Sydney Harbour needs to be re-organised and strengthened to
protect the natural and cultural heritage of the Harbour. A number of guiding
principles have been developed which will guide future land use of publicly
owned Harbour foreshore land. In addition, the Government is set to declare
prime sites along the Harbour and Parramatta River, including land in Federal,
State or private ownership, as sites of State significance'. These sites are to
be identified in a State Environmental Planning Policy. The SEPP will ensure
that the Minister for Urban Affairs will be the consent authority for some
sites, and on other sites require the consent authority, usually local
councils, to prepare strategic plans in accordance with guidelines published by
the State Government (pages 2-3). The Government has also introduced
legislation which amalgamates the City West Development Corporation, the
Darling Harbour Authority and the Sydney Cove Authority (page 4).
- The Government has also announced plans to appoint a Harbour
Manager, to be a first point of contact for anyone dealing with the various
government authorities and consent authorities, including local councils (pages
4-5).
- The issue of the sale of Defence Force land around Sydney
Harbour has created some controversy. Various locations around the Harbour have
been important for defence purposes since the time of the First settlers. Some
of these sites are now considered surplus to Defence Force requirements, and
the question of the change in land use is confronting governments and
communities. Whilst the Defence Force would generally like to see the maximum
return possible on their assets, others in the community are against this and
would prefer to see the public land retained in public hands as open space. The
State Government has announced that Defence Force sites will be declared as
sites of State Significance and that it will become the consent authority for
any proposed redevelopments (pages 5-10).
