Coastal Management Act 2016 (NSW)

Coastal Management Act 2016 No 20

An Act to make provision for the ecologically sustainable management, use and occupation of the New South Wales coast; and for related purposes.

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Name of Act This Act is the Coastal Management Act 2016.

2 Commencement This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

3 Objects of this Act The objects of this Act are to manage the coastal environment of New South Wales in a manner consistent with the principles of ecologically sustainable development for the social, cultural and economic well-being of the people of the State, and in particular— (a) to protect and enhance natural coastal processes and coastal environmental values including natural character, scenic value, biological diversity and ecosystem integrity and resilience, and (b) to support the social and cultural values of the coastal zone and maintain public access, amenity, use and safety, and (c) to acknowledge Aboriginal peoples' spiritual, social, customary and economic use of the coastal zone, and (d) to recognise the coastal zone as a vital economic zone and to support sustainable coastal economies, and (e) to facilitate ecologically sustainable development in the coastal zone and promote sustainable land use planning decision-making, and (f) to mitigate current and future risks from coastal hazards, taking into account the effects of climate change, and (g) to recognise that the local and regional scale effects of coastal processes, and the inherently ambulatory and dynamic nature of the shoreline, may result in the loss of coastal land to the sea (including estuaries and other arms of the sea), and to manage coastal use and development accordingly, and (h) to promote integrated and co-ordinated coastal planning, management and reporting, and (i) to encourage and promote plans and strategies to improve the resilience of coastal assets to the impacts of an uncertain climate future including impacts of extreme storm events, and (j) to ensure co-ordination of the policies and activities of government and public authorities relating to the coastal zone and to facilitate the proper integration of their management activities, and (k) to support public participation in coastal management and planning and greater public awareness, education and understanding of coastal processes and management actions, and (l) to facilitate the identification of land in the coastal zone for acquisition by public or local authorities in order to promote the protection, enhancement, maintenance and restoration of the environment of the coastal zone, and (m) to support the objects of the Marine Estate Management Act 2014.