Coastal areas are some of the most beautiful and dynamic places in NSW. They are also shaped by natural processes that can change over time. Understanding coastal hazards helps communities, councils, and landowners plan for a safer and more resilient coastline.
Why coastal management matters
Coastal management helps to:
- protect public safety
- reduce risks to people and property
- support resilient coastal communities
- guide appropriate development
- maintain healthy coastal ecosystems.
These goals reflect the management objectives set out in the Coastal Management Act 2016.
What are coastal hazards?
Coastal hazards are natural processes that can affect land, property and public safety along the NSW coast. Under the Coastal Management Act 2016, these hazards include:
- beach erosion
- shoreline recession (the gradual landward movement of the shoreline)
- instability at coastal lake or lagoon entrances
- coastal inundation
- coastal cliff or slope instability
- tidal inundation
- erosion or inundation of foreshores caused by tides, waves and their interaction with catchment floodwaters.
These processes can occur today or develop over time as the coastline shifts.
Current and future exposure
The NSW coast is constantly changing. Land may be exposed to:
Current exposure
Areas that would be affected by a coastal hazard if it occurred today. For example, land that would experience beach erosion if a coastal storm occurred.
Future exposure
Areas that may be affected in the future as the shoreline moves or hazards change over time. For example, land next to a tidal waterway may become inundated in the future.
Coastal hazards identified in a council’s Coastal Management Program and mapped in the coastal vulnerability area under the SEPP, may consider both current and future exposure to all 7 coastal hazards.
How coastal hazards affect planning and development
Coastal hazards should be considered when planning new land uses or assessing development in the coastal zone.
Development applications
The Resilience and Hazards SEPP requires consent authorities to consider the impacts of coastal hazards and any relevant Coastal Management Program that has been certified by the Minister before approving development.
Coastal Management Programs must identify actions to address coastal management issues; this may include mapping a coastal vulnerability area within the SEPP.
The Resilience and Hazards SEPP also provides planning approval pathways for coastal protection works in the coastal zone.
Planning proposals
Planning proposals in the coastal zone must address requirements of Chapter 3 of the NSW Coastal Design Guidelines 2023 (PDF, 9.2 MB), including an assessment of how the proposal responds to current and future coastal hazards.
These guidelines support the preparation of planning proposals, place strategies, and local planning controls in line with best practice. They also guide good urban design outcomes within coastal settlements.
Frequently asked questions
Councils are responsible for developing Coastal Management Programs under the Coastal Management Act 2016 to set the long-term strategy for the management of land within the coastal zone, with a focus on achieving the objects of the Act.
The coastal zone is defined in the Coastal Management Act 2016 as the area of land comprising of one or more of 4 coastal management areas:
- coastal wetlands and littoral rainforests area – areas with particular hydrological and ecological characteristics
- coastal vulnerability area – areas affected by any one of 7 coastal hazards
- coastal environment area – coastal waters of the state, estuaries, coastal lakes, and foreshores including beaches, dunes, headlands and rock platforms, as well as surrounding land
- coastal use area – land adjacent to the coast, where development is, or may be, carried out.
Some land may fall within more than one coastal management area. In these cases, development controls for all relevant areas apply when the consent authority assesses a development application in those zones.
Under section 10 of the Coastal Management Act, if there is any conflict, the priority order (highest to lowest) of the management objectives and controls for overlapping coastal management areas is:
- coastal wetlands and littoral rainforests area
- coastal vulnerability area
- coastal environment area
- coastal use area.
There are 2 State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) that apply to coastal management:
- The Coastal Management chapter in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 imposes targeted development controls for coastal management areas, including the coastal wetlands and littoral rainforests area, coastal vulnerability area, coastal environment area, and coastal use area.
- State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021 also specifies coastal subdivisions and coastal protection works that are regionally significant.
The SEPPs identify development controls to help protect and manage sensitive coastal environments, manage risks from coastal hazards, and support appropriate development. Development controls for the:
- coastal wetlands and littoral rainforests area aim to protect these important ecological communities
- coastal vulnerability area manages risks to human life and public and private property that may be impacted by coastal hazards, now and into the future
- coastal environment area aim to protect and improve natural coastal processes, features, and environmental values
- coastal use area focus on appropriate urban development for coastal areas, considering urban design issues such as maintaining public access to the coast, open space and natural areas, scenic qualities, and Aboriginal cultural heritage and places.
The State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 maps the coastal management areas. Find these maps on the NSW Planning Portal Digital EPI Viewer.
Yes. The process for updating maps can be found in the Local Environmental Plan Making Guideline (PDF, 4.7 MB).
Changes to coastal management area maps may be informed by a range of sources including modelling and studies completed by councils as part of their Coastal Management Program. Councils are encouraged to work closely with NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and the Department before lodging a planning proposal.
Resources
- Coastal Management SEPP – Fact sheet 1: Overview (PDF, 85 KB)
- Coastal Management SEPP – Fact sheet 2: Coastal management areas (PDF, 102 KB)
- Coastal Management SEPP – Fact sheet 3: Coastal protection works (PDF, 89 KB)
- Coastal Management SEPP – Fact sheet 4: Mapping of Coastal Management Areas (Technical) (PDF, 1.2 MB)
- Coastal Management SEPP – Fact sheet 5: Mapping the coastal vulnerability area (PDF, 251 KB)
- Section 9.1 Ministerial Direction – Local Plan Making (PDF, 1.2 MB)