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. 07/1998 by Stewart Smith
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- The coast remains the focus of economic development and growth
for the State. Over 80 percent of the State's population lives in a local
government area adjacent to the coast. The coast is a finite resource. We
cannot extend it or create more of it. There are many competing interests for
coastal resources, including tourism, mining, ports, environment protection,
agriculture, mariculture and population growth. How to manage these competing
and often conflicting interests has troubled governments for some considerable
time (page 1).
- Coastal development is controlled by provisions of the
Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (page 3). The NSW
Government Coastal Policy, released in November 1997, also guides what
development is permissible in the coastal zone (page 4).
- An important consideration in coastal zone management is how to
define the coast. The NSW Coastal Policy defines the coast as the following
(page 5):
- three nautical miles seaward of the mainland and offshore
islands;
- one kilometre landward of the open coast high water mark;
- a distance of one kilometre around: all bays, estuaries,
coastal lakes, lagoons and islands; and tidal waters of coastal rivers to the
limit of mangroves, as defined by NSW Fisheries (1985) maps, or the tidal limit
whichever is closer to the sea;
- with the line on the maps being taken to the nearest cadastral
boundary and/or easily recognisable physical boundary, in consultation with
local councils.
- With the above definition, the 1997 Coastal Policy is more
comprehensive than the previous policy, which did not include coastal lakes and
estuaries unless nominated by local councils.
- This paper canvasses two main issues: Commonwealth involvement
in the coastal zone and the coordination of planning in the coastal zone. A
significant new Commonwealth program is the Natural Heritage Trust, with $1.25
billion available from the part sale of Telstra. From this Trust, $125 million
has been allocated to the Coast and Clean Seas program, which will provide for
the conservation, sustainable use and repair of Australia's coastal and marine
environments (page 10).
- However, the role of the Commonwealth in regards to
environmental protection and participation in environmental issues is under
review. It is proposed that the Commonwealth government will only become
involved in environmental assessment if a proposal may have a significant
impact on a matter of national environmental significance. In regards to the
management and protection of the marine and coastal environment, it is proposed
that the trigger' will be tightly defined to cover all activities that may have
a significant impact on the environment in Commonwealth waters. It will not
cover activities impacting solely on waters under State jurisdiction (page 11).
- The management of the coast is fraught with difficulty.
Recommendations from three reports are discussed (pages 11-14). The 1997 NSW
Coastal Policy recognises that no single government organisation is responsible
for the management of the coast. The Policy document states that the Policy is
an attempt by Government to better coordinate the management of the coast by
identifying, in a single document, the State's various management policies,
programs and standards as they apply to a defined coastal zone. The various
policies and programs have as their basis legislation from several government
departments, and are often implemented by local councils or the community
either in partnership with the State Government or independently (page 15).
- The newly established Coastal Council will monitor and review
the implementation of the Coastal Policy and report on this through its annual
report. The Policy notes that the Committee will not be a policeman', but it
will have a role in ensuring that all parties responsible for the
implementation of the policy perform this role effectively. The Committee will
have a review role in ensuring that major rezonings and major new developments
in the coastal zone are consistent with the ecological sustainable development
principles on which the Policy is based.
