The Discussion Paper was written to inform policy discussions between local government and various state government agencies. This is also a useful document for those working on urban riparian land management and planning in local government – as it is a well referenced and outlines NSW's legislative framework around the acquisition and management of urban riparian areas. IT also explores a range of practical issues that arise from the current status.
The paper summarises the various definitions of "Riparian Zone" used in various strategies and legislation. It details requirements under the Water Management Act 2000 and the Department of Energy and Water guidelines for works on riparian land; and how they are applied at the development assessment stage (Section 2).
Page 7 describes the Riparian Corridor Objective Setting (RCOS) stream classification system, used as the basis of a study of Illawarra riparian corridors for the Growth Centres Development Code. According to the report's authors, the RCOS method is potentially applicable to other areas of NSW. Under RCOS, environmental objectives (such as environmental corridors, terrestrial and aquatic habitat, bank stability and water quality), are used to underpin the definition of required riparian corridor widths (and outcomes).
Policies and law that apply to riparian lands in NSW are detailed in Section 3. The changes made to section 94 contributions and the potential implications of acquiring riparian lands are described in section 4. A range of alternative funding mechanisms for the acquisition and ongoing management of such lands are explored.
Section 6 provide various stakeholder perspectives on current riparian land management arrangements with a view to contributing to an informed ongoing discussion.