Coastal Crown Land Guidelines released

Did you know that most of NSW’s beaches, headlands, estuaries and seabed are Crown land?

Crown land is public land held and administered in trust for the benefit of the people of New South Wales.

In NSW, recreation reserves, harbours and other public infrastructure are commonly located on Crown land, including 25 regional harbours, 21 river entrance breakwalls, at least 150 breakwaters, and around 90 holiday parks and 130 surf lifesaving clubs. Local councils and the NSW Government manage a large number of these sites, so that everyone can access and enjoy our marine estate.

With so many of our precious coastal assets and activities on Crown land, how we manage them is important.

To help with this, Crown Lands have recently released the Coastal Crown Land Guidelines.

These Guidelines will help councils and other Crown land managers understand the key principles and procedures that are to be used for managing coastal Crown land.

Importantly, the guidelines integrate coastal Crown land management with Coastal Management Programs (CMPs) and Plans of Management (PoMs) prepared by local councils in consultation with communities.

The guidelines will help councils and other Crown land managers to make decisions about coastal Crown land in an integrated and strategic way and make it easier for everyone to understand how and why such decisions are made.

Under the guidelines, coastal hazards such as beach erosion and coastal inundation are to be identified prior to the issuing of leases and licenses over coastal Crown land. This will ensure that risks associated with coastal hazards are appropriately considered, including risks that will be exacerbated by climate change.

The Guidelines ensure a consistent approach to managing coastal Crown land in the context of the NSW Coastal Management Framework.

Senior Policy & Project Officer (Marine Estate) David Kirby presented the Guidelines to the Joint National Coast to Coast and NSW Coastal Conference in November 2023 and ensured that all 380 coastal professionals attending received a tree-friendly pdf copy.

Crown Lands Coastal Unit Manager, Catherine Knight, will be leading engagement with local councils on the Guidelines over the first half of 2024.

Crown Lands will be collecting feedback on the Guidelines as they are implemented. To share your thoughts on the Guidelines please contact: coastal.unit@crownland.nsw.gov.au

The Coastal Crown Land Guidelines were developed by Crown Lands in collaboration with other NSW state agencies and funded via the NSW Marine Estate Management Strategy.