Coastal Zone Management Plan (2018)
To manage the present and future risks to Shellharbour's coastline we resolved to prepare a Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for the Shellharbour coastline, with the assistance of a grant from the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).
The Shellharbour CZMP was prepared under the prevailing OEH Guidelines for Preparing Coastal Zone Management Plans and relevant legislation including the Coastal Protection Act, 1979. It was certified on 16 April 2018 by the Chief Executive of the Office of Environment and Heritage under delegation from the Minister for the Environment, the Honourable Gabrielle Upton, and was gazetted on the 6 June 2018.
The CZMP defines the level of risk from coastal hazards and provides a coordinated approach to the management of these hazards. It provides guidance for future management and strategic land use planning of the Shellharbour coastal zone to ensure growth and development without putting at risk the natural, cultural and heritage values of the coast.
Shellharbour City Council - Coastal Management Program
Councils are now required to prepare a Coastal Management Program (CMP) under the Coastal Management Act 2016, which will transition away from the existing Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). The Coastal Management Act provides for the integrated management of the coastal environment of New South Wales NSW), consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development, for the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of NSW.
Shellharbour City Council is working on the progression of the Shellharbour Open Coast and Elliot Lake Coastal Management Programs (CMPs). The Open Coast CMP will cover the coastal areas from Windang Island to Bass Point. This includes the following beaches:
• Warilla Beach
• Shellharbour North Beach
• Nuns Beach
• Shellharbour Boat Harbor and Shell Cove Boat Harbour
• Shellharbour South Beach
• Bass Point (The Shallows & Bushrangers)
The Elliot Lake CMP will be developed separately to allow the CMP for this waterway to address the specific priorities and issues within the area.
Maloneys Beach, Killalea Beach and Minnamurra Beach (Mystics) are under NSW Government ownership and are not included in the CMPs. However, the Open Coast CMP will provide comments on the management of these areas also.
Lake Illawarra is not part of the Open Coast CMP. Council has already developed a CMP for Lake Illawarra in partnership with Wollongong City Council and the NSW Government.
A CMP is prepared in five stages and Shellharbour City Council has recently completed Stage 1: Identify the scope of a coastal management program. The Scoping Study was adopted at the Ordinary Council Meeting on Tuesday, 27 June 2023.
The Scoping Study utilises existing strategies, plans, studies and community feedback to confirm the issues affecting the coastline, identify knowledge gaps, and develop a program for the subsequent stages of the CMP process.
Image Source: State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage, 2018
For more information on all five stages, please go to the NSW Government website on coastal management.