Coastal Management Policy

Principles

1. For the purposes of this policy the NSW ‘coastal zone’ is defined to include all land and water bodies from the head of the catchments of watercourses flowing into the South Pacific Ocean, seawards to a distance of 3 nautical miles from the recognised coastline and includes all estuarine and off-shore islands.

2. Coastal reserves should be created along the NSW coast in an planned and deliberate manner and should do constitute a comprehensive system which is adequate and representative.

3. The threats posed to coastal ecosystems by discharges from industrial, agricultural and domestic landuses and from sewage effluent are extremely serious and threaten the fishing industry, residents’ health and amenity, and tourist uses of the states estuaries and coastal waters.

4. Activities which threaten the natural values of the coast must be halted and new co-operative arrangements between all levels of government, community and industry must be devised, funded and implemented to achieve ecologically sustainable management and use of coastal resources.

5. The impact of sea level rises and other consequences of global climate change, such as increased storm frequency and intensity, must be recognised and incorporated into all decisions relating to coastal zone management.

Goals

The Greens NSW will work towards:

6. The recognition and involvement of Indigenous Australians in coastal zone management;

7. The integration of NSW coastal zone management into a National Coastal Action Plan;

8. Creation of a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system for coastal lands and estuarine and marine ecosystems;

9. The use of comprehensive regional assessments to evaluate the natural values and  resources of whole bio-regions, across all land tenures, provided that such assessments employ consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, public participation and scientifically valid and publicly accepted methodologies;

10. An immediate moratorium on beach haul fishing and a ban on coastal sand-mining;

11. The co-ordinated protection of the marine environment through the creation of a ‘lead agency’ for coastal management, public participation and stakeholder consultation processes to identify and monitor problem areas, and strict land-use zoning;

12. The adoption and use in new and existing coastal developments, of appropriate sustainable products, technologies and designs that can conserve energy, reduce consumption of natural resources, increase recycling and re-use and reduce or eliminate hazards or threats to human or environmental health; and

13. Future development on the NSW coast based on the principles of ecological sustainability and which deliver high quality outcomes for the natural and human modified environments.

Detail

The Greens NSW will:

14. Recognise the rights and a broadening of the roles of indigenous Australians and increase in their involvement in the planning and management of the coastal zone, through formal recognition within new legislation and the provision of special funding;

15. Recognise the rights of local communities and community-based groups to participate in the planning and management of their coastal areas, and facilitation of much greater access to planning processes;

16. Support the development, funding and implementation by the NSW Government, of a range of ongoing community education and awareness raising programs that highlight contemporary coastal zone management issues and promote policies addressing these issues;

17. Support placing an immediate moratorium on the clearance of any coastal native vegetation, within 5 km of the reach of tidal waters, until effective coastal protection and management legislation is enacted;

18. Encourage the regeneration, rehabilitation and ongoing management of native vegetation in the coastal zone to improve bio-diversity habitat values, visual and recreational amenity and dune and foreshore stability;

19. Support the immediate allocation of adequate funds, through the NSW Coastal Acquisition Fund, to coastal land acquisition schemes to permit the public acquisition of significant coastal lands currently in private ownership, at the earliest possible opportunity;

20. Implement an immediate moratorium on development (including rezonings and subdivisions) or new commercial operations, in coastal lands and estuarine and marine ecosystems identified as being likely to be required for a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system;

21. Support a comprehensive regional assessment of coastal lands and estuarine and marine ecosystems in all regions of the state, involving public participation, stakeholder consultation, and periodic review;

22. Establish a public review of laws affecting the marine environment to identify the most effective measures for the protection of marine ecosystems;

23. Give effect to the National Coastal Action Plan by enacting a NSW Coastal Protection Bill, complete with implementation budget, which is based on the principles of ecological sustainability, is comprehensive in scope and binding on the NSW Government and all its agencies and local governments;

24. Prohibit apart from micro-adjustments with planning merit, the expansion of coastal cities, towns and villages beyond the boundaries of existing urban development;

25. Protect the visual amenity of the NSW coast by prohibiting the building of high-rise or multi-storey buildings adjacent to the shoreline;

26. Support the proper implementation of the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) No. 14 Coastal Wetlands, including the incorporation of all wetland areas already identified as meeting the SEPP 14 criteria into the Policy, as an interim measure pending the enactment of legislation which provides for protection and management of all wetlands in the coastal zone;

27. Include new legislation provisions to identify, map, securely protect and effectively manage all areas of wetland in the coastal zone of regional, state, national or international significance across all land tenures;

28. Provide adequate funding for the management and/or restoration of significant coastal wetlands including a range of mechanisms for the compensation of private landholders affected by such protection and management;

29. Ban the use of vehicles for recreational purposes on beaches, dunes and undeveloped headlands;

30. Limit the use of certain watercraft in sensitive coastal areas;

31. Ensure that coastal lands in public ownership are maintained as public assets and are managed effectively as such, through co-operative arrangements under publicly agreed plans of management;

32. Fund research to define criteria for the ecologically sustainable use of fisheries and other marine resources.

33. Take action to apply state-wide coastal zone management standards and objectives, discontinue existing programs and policies which conflict with national coastal zone management objectives and ensure NSW coastal zone management policies are enforced;

34. Ensure the protection and improvement of water quality in all coastal watercourses and coastal waters, through education, regulation and legislation;

35. Promote the development of reuse and recycling methods and technologies so that waste water and sewage become resources rather than waste products;

36. Support the introduction of measures to stop industrial, agricultural and domestic pollution and discharges from entering water bodies in a step-by-step program to obtain zero pollution; and

37. Prohibit new industrial discharges into all water bodies unless the proponent can prove they are completely safe, and the enforcement of strict controls over existing industrial discharges, with a view to the eventual banning of all polluting disc