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Coastal Management Programs (CMPs)

Council is preparing a series of Coastal Management Programs to ensure a coordinated, strategic and integrated approach to sustaining the coastal zone in to the future.

Council has a long history of proactive management of its estuaries and beaches, under the former and coastal management frameworks including preparation of numerous estuary studies and management plans.

The NSW government has established a new coastal management framework to manage the coastal environment in an ecologically sustainable way for the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of the people of NSW. In line with this framework, Council is currently developing a series of Coastal Management Programs (CMP) for the Bega Valley coastline. 

The coastal zone is highly valued by the community for its recreational and amenity benefits, cultural heritage and is a key driver for economy in the region. The coastal environment is however under a mix of pressures including development, land use practices and climate change related factors. The preparation of CMPs presents a valuable opportunity to support sustainable management of the coastal environment, its values and its resources for current and future generations.


Coastal Management Programs set the long-term strategy for the coordinated management of the coast and must be prepared in line with the NSW Coastal Management Manual to meet the objectives of the Coastal Management Act 2016.

A CMP provides a mechanism to develop and deliver actions to mitigate the threats to the study areas community values, ecological values and economic benefits and deliver a long term, risk-based strategy to manage coastal hazards, climate change and other risks likely to manifest over the next 100 years.

The development of CMPs follows a five stage risk management process for preparation through to implementation.

Coastal management manual stage risk management process.

There are multiple incentives and benefits for Council to complete a CMP which include:

Coordinated and strategic management of the coastal zone: The CMP will provide a coordinated, strategic and integrated approach to sustaining the coastal zone over both the immediate and medium term with consideration of long term vision and trends.

Key driver to improve collaboration between and ownership by local and state agencies: The legal status of CMPs given under Section 23 of the Coastal Management Act states, ‘other public authorities to have regard to coastal management program and coastal management manual’.

Increased funding opportunities: Funding opportunities are available for actions within CMPs via the NSW Coastal and Estuary Grants Program and the Marine Estate Management Strategy.

The coastal and estuary grants program supports local Councils to prepare and implement CMP’s and to deliver the objects of the Coastal Management Act 2016. The State Government will provide $2 for every $1 provided by the applicant (2:1 ratio) to support the implementation of actions identified in a certified CMP.

Bega Valley Council is responsible for over 250km of coastline including 29 estuaries. Many of our catchments have minimal development, are highly vegetated and contain large areas of national park which greatly reduces issues in comparison to catchments containing urban areas. Due to the expansive area of coastline and varying threats, Council has chosen to develop individual CMPs for defined areas to ensure high level of detail for each catchment with site specific actions and more focused consultation.

Council commenced development of CMP’s in 2016 prior to the finalisation of the current NSW Coastal Management Framework. Due to updates to the framework, Council was required to go back and undertake stage 1 and develop a scoping study (now complete). The scoping study identified additional changes required to the draft CMPs in order to meet statutory provisions and mandatory requirements, work to update this is currently underway.

A coastal hazards CMP was also being developed however the scope was incompatible with the new coastal management framework and the project has been closed off. The work undertaken will be utilised in a reformed Open Coast CMP.

The scoping study identified the following prioritisation for CMP development:

PRIORITY LOCATION DETAIL
High   (currently under development) Wallaga Lake CMP, Bermagui River CMP, Merimbula and Back Lake CMP, Lake Curalo CMP Urban areas with high number of threats both now and into the future with ageing estuary management plans or no plan (Bermagui River)
Medium Open Coast CMP Focus on coastal hazards and other threats impacting our coastline
Low Other individual and/or grouped estuary CMPs as required after additional stage 2 studies Estuaries may be grouped due to similar issues or geography

For the four current CMP’s underway the following has been completed:

  • initial community consultation
  • site inspections across the catchment
  • development of focus groups and consultation
  • review of previous management plans & studies
  • Identification of issues and draft actions to mitigate these.

Following completion of the scoping study, consultants are currently updating draft documents to include recent information and data, incorporating coastal hazard information and collating feedback from previous focus group meetings.

The draft CMP’s will be on exhibition later in 2024 and the community will have the opportunity via ‘have your say’ to contribute.

Through the implementation stages there will be opportunities for community involvement and engagement. Stay tuned via Councils social media or newsletter for details.


 

For more information please contact:

 

 

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