New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

KIAMA LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 1996 - REG 4

4 Aims and objectives

(1) The aims of this plan are as follows:

(a) To plan for the community’s needs for the next ten years by promoting and encouraging development that improves the total quality of life, both now and in the future, in a way that maintains the ecological process on which life depends,

(b) To preserve the essence of the special qualities of the Council’s area,

(c) To manage, develop and conserve the natural and built resources within the Council’s area,

(d) To meet general community expectations,

(e) To provide for the community’s welfare, including the social and economic well-being of the community of the Council’s area,

(f) To provide planning mechanisms to assist in the development of greater community spirit and vibrancy,

(g) To ensure the efficient and equitable use of resources within environmental constraints,

(h) To provide adequate opportunity for public involvement and participation in environmental planning and assessment.

(2) The objectives of this plan are as follows:

(a) To define future urban boundaries,

(b) To retain a rural separation between villages and towns which help characterise the Council’s area,

(c) To protect natural and built environmental features of the Council’s area,

(d) To provide for controlled urban growth within the defined boundaries,

(e) To provide for consolidation of existing urban areas particularly around existing business and transport centres and where environmental (including social) parameters are suitable,

(f) To protect prime crop and pasture land outside defined urban boundaries,

(g) To consolidate and strengthen existing retail/business centres,

(h) To encourage the provision of a range of retail and business services which are more attractive, convenient and accessible to the community,

(i) To provide for tourism related uses and activities and to attract them to selected localities within the Council’s area,

(j) To ensure that new developments are well designed and complement the character of the surrounding land and the Council’s area,

(k) To ensure that residential areas are based on neighbourhood and environmental design principles, including the following:

• improved pedestrian and bicycle access to services and facilities,

• minimum use of the motor vehicle,

• solar access and energy efficiency,

• a built form that complements the landscape,

• minimum degradation of flora and fauna and natural habitats,

• a landscape design that is appropriate to the area and makes a more attractive residential environment,

• a defined edge to the settlement with appropriate landscaping and recreational facilities, including pathways and cycleways,

• adequate provision of community services and facilities including meeting rooms, child care and sporting facilities,

• focal points that provide the potential for increased social interaction,

• a range of housing styles and lot sizes,

• retention of landscape features,

• stormwater retention ponds and basins,

• the enhancement of waterways,

• environmentally acceptable sewage disposal,

(l) To protect the Council’s area’s natural heritage through appropriate controls and plans of management,

(m) To identify and conserve items of environmental heritage of a local, regional, State and national significance,

(n) To provide industrial lands within environmental constraints to increase the employment base of the Council’s area and improve the self-sufficiency level of the local community,

(o) To identify land required for public purposes and to provide for the classification of public land for general community or operational use,

(p) To minimise the adverse impact of activities within the Council’s area on the global environment,

(q) To promote the more efficient use of water and energy within the Council’s area,

(r) To assist the sustainability of prime crop and pasture lands,

(s) To ensure the preservation of the landscape and special scenic qualities of the Council’s area,

(t) To protect biological diversity and maintain essential ecological processes and life support systems,

(u) To ensure that activities and development within the catchments of the Council’s area do not impact adversely on the water quality of the estuaries and wetlands systems,

(v) To ensure planning and development have regard to total catchment management philosophy and principles,

(w) To promote the sustainability of the natural ecosystems within the Council’s area,

(x) To restrict development on flood liable land,

(y) To enhance individual and community well-being and welfare by encouraging a path of economic development that safeguards the welfare of future generations,

(z) To foster the cultural development of the Kiama area, especially the arts and crafts skills of the community,

(aa) To restrict the fragmentation of non-urban land other than for agricultural purposes.

(ab) To conserve, protect and maintain riparian corridors.