Resilience and Hazards SEPP

State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 – also known as the Resilience and Hazards SEPP – officially began on 1 March 2022. It provides a coordinated approach to assessing development in NSW.

Chapter 2 of the Resilience and Hazards SEPP maps each coastal management area for the purposes of both the Coastal Management Act 2016 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

The Resilience and Hazards SEPP also covers how development proposals are assessed if they are in the coastal zone, and each of the coastal management areas.

You can view the Resilience and Hazards SEPP maps alongside other relevant local and state planning controls in the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer.

The NSW Government recently exhibited proposed changes to the planning system aimed at supporting blue carbon and other ecosystem restoration projects and improving coastal management.

Restoring blue carbon and other ecosystems

A new framework for ecosystem restoration projects, including for blue carbon, will broaden the current focus beyond protecting the environment from harm to making it clearer and simpler for public and private landowners to restore damaged or degraded ecosystems.

These changes align with the NSW Blue Carbon Strategy, the NSW Plan for Nature, and broader national and international ecosystem restoration goals.

Coastal management

The proposed updates strengthen the coastal management framework by providing clearer guidance on existing provisions including:

• coastal subdivisions and boundary changes
• dangerous tree removal
• native vegetation management
• how future wetland movement is considered in a development proposal
• controls for coastal protection works.

The changes will streamline assessments affecting coastal wetlands and littoral rainforest and improve the process for correcting minor mapping errors, supported by technical guidance.

The proposed changes were on exhibition from Monday 4 May until 5 pm on Monday 1 June 2026. You can read more about the exhibition on the NSW Planning Portal.

A local planning direction (Priority 5.8) (PDF, 1.2 MB) for coastal management supports councils when developing and assessing planning proposals within the coastal zone. This direction ensures that these strategic planning activities are consistent with the objectives of the Act and SEPP provisions for coastal management to:

• reduce threats from inappropriate land use in important coastal and marine environments
• help avoid and minimise the exposure of communities to current and future coastal hazards.

Planning proposals within the coastal zone also need to be consistent with Coastal Management Programs (or Coastal Zone Management Plans that continue to have effect) for that area, the Coastal Design Guidelines 2023 and any local environmental plan, development control plan, study or assessment that identifies land affected by a current or future coastal hazard.

This strategic approach will reduce the degree to which future land uses threaten important coastal and marine environmental assets, expose communities to coastal hazards or create other legacy issues that burden future generations.

The Coastal Management Act 2016 specifies that the NSW coastal zone is made up of 4 coastal management areas.

1. coastal wetlands and littoral rainforests area – areas that display the characteristics of coastal wetlands or littoral rainforests.
2. coastal vulnerability area – areas subject to coastal hazards such as beach erosion and tidal inundation.
3. coastal environment area – areas with natural coastal features such as beaches, rock platforms, coastal lakes and lagoons, and undeveloped headlands. Marine and estuarine waters are also included.
4. coastal use area – land next to coastal waters, estuaries and coastal lakes and lagoons, and where urban coastal development may be found.

The Coastal Management Act 2016 also specifies management objectives for each area that reflect their different values and threats, and which may overlap.

Use the Spatial Viewer