FAQ

Council, in association with the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, is preparing the Coastal Management Program (CMP) to identify sustainable ways to manage the Tweed River Estuary.The Plan will determine actions that can be implemented by Council, government agency stakeholders and the community to achieve the right balance between the many different uses and to protect nature, scenic and recreational values, livelihoods and cultural practices.The Plan must meet a range of State government requirements under the new Coastal Management Act and the draft Coastal Management Manual 2015.The Plan must:

The Plan’s study area is the tidal section of the Tweed River, between the Bray Park Weir at Murwillumbah and the mouth of the river at Tweed Heads. This includes the tidal section of the Rous River.

The Cobaki and Terranora systems do not form part of the study area because they were assessed during preparation of the Cobaki and Terranora Broadwater Coastal Zone Management Plan in 2013.

We are seeking community and stakeholder input through a number of avenues:

The Plan will cover a range of issues, including:

·  ecological values, including aquatic and terrestrial habitats, riparian and floodplain connectivity, flora and fauna, and exotic species that threaten ecosystem integrity

·  key aquatic ecosystem processes and thresholds

·  water quality, including catchment inputs to the estuary, and the impact upper catchment and floodplain runoff has on ecosystem health

·  physical environmental conditions, including bank erosion and accretion and shoaling

·  existing knowledge, including scientific and community sources such as Aboriginal cultural and other user perspectives

·  natural resource management institutional structures, particularly recent legislative and policy changes via the NSW Coastal Management reforms

·  Aboriginal values and uses of the estuary

·  recreational use of the estuary

·  sustainable commercial resource use and values (eg. fish, oysters, tourism, boating, farming, sand mining, aquaculture)

·  adaptation to climate change, potential inundation of built assets because of sea level rise, and capacity for migration of natural habitats

·  community values of the estuary and aspirations for its use and management, including navigability

·  scenic beauty

The Plan will guide how issues will be dealt with, who is responsible, where funding will come from and when actions will be undertaken.

·  Click here to read existing studies and management plans covering many relevant issues.

·  Visit www.environment.nsw.gov.au/estuaries/ for information about estuaries in NSW or visit www.environment.nsw.gov.au/coasts/index.htm to read about State Government coastal management processes

·  Further information will be added to this webpage as it becomes available. The project team is currently compiling information on the current status of issues for the Tweed River Estuary, including community and stakeholder input.

The draft CMP will be finalised by June 2018, following public exhibition, and will be sent to the NSW Minister for the Environment for certification. Once certified, Council staff will recommend the CMP for Council adoption. Actions in the certified CMP will be included in Council’s Community Strategic Plan, Delivery Program, resourcing strategy and land use planning instruments.

The CMP will guide integrated management of the estuary, consistent with principles of ecologically sustainable development, the Tweed community’s aspirations, and the 12 high-level statutory objects of the new Coastal Management Act.

A prioritised action plan will provide a clear path to implement the Plan over the next 10 years, with actions that are likely to be affordable, have tangible benefit and contribute to the long-term vision for management of the Tweed River Estuary.

Before an action is included, it will be critically evaluated to ensure it can be effectively implemented, taking into consideration limitations imposed by funding, environmental conditions and community support.