New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

GREATER METROPOLITAN REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN NO 2--GEORGES RIVER CATCHMENT - REG 9

9 Specific planning principles

When this Part applies, the following must be taken into account:

(1) Disturbance of acid sulfate soil areas is to be avoided or minimised and those areas are to be protected in accordance with the requirements set out in the Acid Sulfate Soils Assessment and Management Guidelines prepared by the Acid Sulfate Soils Management Advisory Committee. Measures to minimise that disturbance are to take into account the following:

(a) verification of the existence, locations and extent of acid sulfate soils,

(b) the capacity of land to sustain the proposed land uses, having regard to:

(i) potential impacts on surface and groundwater quality and quantity, and

(ii) potential impacts on ecosystems and on biodiversity, and

(iii) potential impacts on agricultural, fisheries and aquaculture productivity, and

(iv) any likely engineering constraints and impacts on infrastructure, and

(v) cumulative environmental impacts.

(2) Disturbance of the bank or foreshore along the Georges River and its tributaries is to be avoided and those areas and any adjoining open space or vegetated buffer area must be protected from degradation.

(3) The following are to be recognised:

(a) the benefits of periodic flooding to wetland and other riverine ecosystems,

(b) the pollution hazard posed by development on flood liable land in the event of a flood,

(c) the cumulative environmental effect of development on the behaviour of flood water and the importance of not filling flood prone land.

(4) The discharging of industrial waste into the Georges River or its tributaries must be avoided and the requirements of the relevant consent authority and licensing authority must be met in those instances where industrial discharges into the river and its tributaries occur.

(5) Land degradation processes, such as:

(a) erosion,

(b) sedimentation,

(c) deterioration of soil structure,

(d) significant loss of native vegetation,

(e) pollution of ground or surface water,

(f) soil salinity and acidity, and

(g) adverse effects on habitats and sensitive natural environments (aquatic and terrestrial) within the Catchment,

must be avoided where possible, and minimised where avoidance is not possible.

(6) The potential adverse environmental and health impact associated with effluent disposal is to be recognised and guarded against by meeting the criteria set out in the Environment Health Protection Guidelines: On-site Sewage Management for single households and the provisions of the Local Government (Approvals) Regulation 1993 .

(7) Uses located on immediate foreshore land on the Georges River and its tributaries must be water-related and public access to the foreshore of the river and its tributaries must be provided in order to enhance the environment of the Catchment.

(8) The adverse impact of sewer overflows, including exfiltration, on the environment within the Catchment, and specifically on the water quality of the river and its tributaries, is to be recognised and that issue is to be addressed through appropriate planning and management of development within the Catchment.

(9) The impacts of stormwater runoff, including sewage contaminated runoff into or near streams within the Catchment, is to be minimised and mitigation measures that address urban stormwater runoff are to be implemented in accordance with the local council requirements and the Managing Urban Stormwater series of documents. Development is also to be in accordance with the NSW State Rivers and Estuaries Policy available from offices of the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning. Stormwater management must be integrated so that quality, quantity and land use aspects are all encompassed.

(10) The environment within the Catchment is to be protected by ensuring that new or expanding urban development areas are developed in accordance with the Urban Development Program and the Metropolitan Strategy and that the requirements of the NSW Floodplain Development Policy and Manual (prepared by and available from the Department of Land and Water Conservation) are also satisfied. It is important to ensure that the level of nutrients entering the waterways and creeks is not increased by the development.

(11) Appropriate buffer widths (as identified in item 21 relating to Development in Vegetated Buffer Areas in the Planning Control Table in Part 3) must be retained as a means of improving surface runoff entering into the Georges River or its tributaries.

(12) Water quality and river flows within the Catchment are to be improved through the implementation of environmental objectives for water quality and river flows agreed between the Minister for Environment and the Minister for Land and Water Conservation and by the application of consistent decisions affecting the use and management of land.

(13) Wetlands must be protected through the application of consistent land use and management decisions that take into account the potential impact of surrounding land uses, incorporate measures to mitigate adverse effects and are in accordance with the NSW Wetlands Management Policy (prepared by and available from the Department of Land and Water Conservation). Wetlands must also be protected by requiring adequate provisions where clearing, construction of a levee, draining or landscaping is to be undertaken.