Part 2
Strategic Framework
The Rural Residential Strategy is required
to fit within a framework of policies that
operate at the Local, Regional and State
level. The documents that contain these
policies are:
ƒ
Coffs Harbour City Council Rural
Residential Strategy, 1999;
ƒ
Rural Lands Strategic Plan, 2002;
ƒ
Coffs Harbour City “Our Living City”
Settlement Strategy, 2007;
The 1999 Strategy used the following
physical catchment criteria to help
determine preferred development areas:
ƒ
slope < 30%;
ƒ
banana lands (Classes 1, 2 and 3
excluded);
ƒ
regionally significant vegetation;
ƒ
potentially contaminated land;
ƒ
flood prone lands;
ƒ
NSW Coastal Policy, 1977;
ƒ
environmentally sensitive areas;
ƒ
Draft Mid North Coast Regional
Strategy, 2006; and
ƒ
bushfire risk;
ƒ
soil conservation/water quality; and
ƒ
Settlement Planning Guidelines
2007/Mid and Far North Coast
Regional Strategies.
ƒ
areas of local visual significance (ridge
tops/green backdrop to the City).
Rural Residential Strategy 1999
As indicated earlier, this strategy is the
current local strategy for rural residential
development. The strategy was prepared
under the guidelines prepared by the then
Department of Urban Affairs and
Planning in 1995 entitled “Rural
Settlement Guidelines on the North Coast
of NSW”. These guidelines required an
assessment of the LGA from a physical,
social and servicing catchment perspective
and required a consideration of demand
and supply for rural residential
development. The Guidelines also
required a consideration of the settlement
hierarchy and settlement patterns.
The 1999 Strategy resulted in the areas
shown in Figure 2 being the preferred
areas for rural residential development.
Subsequently, land within Korora, Nana
Glen and Coramba has been zoned for
rural residential purposes. The land in
Korora which is currently zoned for rural
residential purposes includes the land
generally north of the proposed Pacific
Highway Bypass alignment within the
preferred area and some land in the
subsidiary area.
The land at Coramba and Nana Glen
zoned for rural residential purpose
generally included the lands identified in
the stage 1 (short term) release program
and additional land identified under the
Rural Lands Strategic Plan 2002. These
lands were zoned Rural 1B under Local
Environmental Plan (LEP) (Amendment
No. 15) gazetted on 26 November 2004.
Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009
7
It is to be noted that some of the Stage 2
(medium term) release area in Nana Glen
was also zoned Rural 1B under this LEP
Amendment. The southernmost
candidate area in Coramba and
northernmost candidate area in Nana
Glen Rail identified for short term release
were not zoned under this LEP
amendment because of environmental
constraints identified under the Rural
Lands Strategic Plan process.
The Korora Rural Residential Release Area
included a ‘preferred area’ and a
‘subsidiary area’. Land in the preferred
area not affected by the Pacific Highway
Bypass or identified for higher density
urban development was zoned Rural 1B
under LEP (Amendment No. 3), gazetted
in February 2004 and some areas in the
steeper subsidiary areas were subsequently
zoned Rural 1B following satisfactory
environmental investigations (i.e. flora
and fauna, geotechnical, bushfire hazard,
effluent disposal). Landowners in the
subsidiary area were able to put forward a
case for rezoning following the carrying
out of certain environmental
investigations.
It is to be noted that the ‘Infill
Development’ areas at Boambee and ‘Tiki
Road’ were also identified for short term
release. Boambee (in the vicinity of
Lindsays Road) was rezoned for rural
residential purposes under LEP
(Amendment No. 17). Rezoning of the
Tiki Road area has been delayed by the
Pacific Highway Upgrade Project,
limitations on the land owing to flooding
and an absence of resources to undertake
the necessary studies.
Figure 2 shows the areas identified as
candidate under the 1999 Strategy.
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Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009
Rural Lands Strategic Plan 2002
The Rural Lands Strategic Plan provided a
strategic direction for all land zoned for
rural purposes in the LGA. The Plan
applied to land zoned Rural 1A and land
zoned or intended to be zoned Rural 1B.
The Strategic Plan sought to achieve a
triple bottom line of economic, social and
environmental sustainability. The
Strategic Plan incorporated changes to
Coffs Harbour City LEP 2000 for the
rezoning of the rural residential areas in
Nana Glen and Coramba discussed earlier
and introduced a number of ‘Place’ based
Development Control Plans (DCPs) to
guide rural and rural residential
development. The place based plans
related to:
ƒ
Korora and Coastal Hinterland;
ƒ
Coffs Rural;
ƒ
Karangi – Upper Orara – Coramba;
ƒ
Nana Glen – Bucca;
ƒ
Lowanna – Ulong;
ƒ
Northern Beaches.
The Rural Lands Strategic Plan also
included a Monitoring and Performance
Audit and a Financial Program to ensure
the plan was implemented and the triple
bottom line objectives are met.
Our Living City Settlement Strategy
2008
The Our Living City (OLC) Settlement
Strategy has been prepared to guide
urban development in the LGA for the
next 23 years. The OLC Settlement
Strategy was prepared to meet the
obligations for urban release strategies
under the North Coast Regional
Environmental Plan. The OLC Settlement
Strategy details areas to be zoned or
investigated for urban and rural
residential purposes.
The Strategy envisages a population of
approximately 99,000 people by 2031
requiring an additional 12,000 dwellings.
Rural residential dwellings are anticipated
to comprise 5.33% (i.e. 640 dwellings) of
this future dwelling stock.
The candidate areas for rural residential
development to be considered under this
Strategy are shown in Figure 3.
The Department of Planning has endorsed
an interim agreement to allow some areas
identified in the Strategy to be considered
for rezoning for urban purposes in the
short term. These areas include:
ƒ
North Coffs Release Area;
ƒ
South Coffs Release Area;
ƒ
Two land parcels in Bonville;
ƒ
Two land parcels subject to zoning
anomalies; and
ƒ
Three parcels of land for special
investigation.
The Department of Planning intends to
consider the remaining contents of the
OLC Settlement Strategy when the Mid
North Coast Regional Strategy is
completed. It is expected that the OLC
Settlement Strategy will be amended to
incorporate the findings and
recommendations from this Strategy.
Mid North Coast Regional Strategy
This Strategy was endorsed in 2009 and
applies to eight local government areas
including:
ƒ
Coffs Harbour;
ƒ
Nambucca;
ƒ
Clarence Valley;
ƒ
Bellingen;
ƒ
Kempsey;
ƒ
Port Macquarie-Hastings;
ƒ
Greater Taree; and
ƒ
Great Lakes.
The Strategy states that its primary
purpose is to ensure adequate land is
available and appropriately located for the
housing and employment needs for the
region to the year 2031. The Strategy
projects 91,000 additional people, 58,400
new homes and the provision of 47,000
new employment opportunities in the
Region. For the Coffs Coast, which
includes Nambucca, Bellingen and Coffs
Harbour, 18,600 dwellings are projected.
As can be seen by the dwelling
projections under the OLC Settlement
Strategy, the majority of this new housing
will be located in the Coffs Harbour LGA.
This is confirmed in the Regional Strategy
wherein it states:
Coffs Harbour, Moonee Beach,
Woolgoolga and Sawtell-ToorminaBoambee East have the greatest
potential to accommodate the growth
expected in the coastal areas of this
sub region.
Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009
9
The following centres hierarchy is
outlined in the Strategy:
ƒ
Coffs Harbour – Major Regional
Centre;
ƒ
Woolgoolga – Town;
ƒ
Red Rock – Coastal Village;
ƒ
Corindi Beach – Coastal Village;
ƒ
Mullaway – Coastal Village;
ƒ
Sandy Beach – Coastal Village;
ƒ
Emerald Beach – Coastal Village;
ƒ
Moonee Beach – Coastal Village;
No further rural residential areas will
be supported beyond those identified
in the Regional Strategy unless the
local growth management strategy
can demonstrate that the proposed
areas:
ƒ
Nana Glen – Inland Village;
>
ƒ
Coramba – Inland Village;
are consistent with the
Sustainability Criteria.
ƒ
Ulong – Inland Village; and
>
ƒ
Lowanna – Inland Village.
maintain the character and role of
the existing village centre.
Coffs Harbour is designated as a ‘Major
Regional Centre’ to serve the Coffs Coast,
Woolgoolga is designated as a supporting
Town Centre and the remaining centres
are designated as villages. It is interesting
to note that the significant centres of
Sawtell, Toormina, Boambee and Bonville
are not separately recognised in the
hierarchy under the Strategy.
10
The Strategy requires the amount of
housing in existing urban areas to be
increased from 20% to 40%; this will
require a dramatic shift to more rigorous
urban consolidation policies and
provisions at the local level. In relation to
rural residential development the Strategy
states:
Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009
ƒ
ƒ
Future rural residential land will only
be zoned for release if it is in
accordance with a local growth
management strategy agreed to
between council and the Department
of Planning and consistent with the
principles of the Settlement Planning
Guidelines.
ƒ
Rural residential development will be
permitted in coastal areas only if
already zoned or within an agreed
growth management strategy.
ƒ
Planning for rural residential land
must be integrated with the supply of
infrastructure and transport.
ƒ
The Department of Primary Industries
and the Department of Planning will
assist councils with the development
of appropriate subdivision standards
for rural zones.
ƒ
Local environmental plans will include
minimum subdivision standards for
rural and environment protection
zones.
ƒ
ƒ
Local environmental plans will include
provisions to limit dwellings in rural
and environmental zones.
Local environmental plans will not
include provisions to permit
concessional allotments.
It is necessary for this Strategy to
demonstrate compliance with the
sustainability criteria outlined in the
Strategy. This criteria relates to:
ƒ
infrastructure provision;
ƒ
access;
ƒ
housing diversity;
ƒ
employment lands;
ƒ
avoidance of risk;
ƒ
natural resources;
ƒ
environmental protection; and
ƒ
quality and equity in services.
Appendix A describes the criterion and
measures to meet each criterion in this
Strategy.
NSW Coastal Policy 1997
The NSW Coastal Policy was developed to
guide management and planning of the
coastal zone into the next century. The
coastal zone includes the following areas:
ƒ
three nautical miles seaward of the
mainland and offshore islands;
ƒ
one kilometre landward of the open
coast high water mark;
ƒ
a distance of one kilometre around:
>
all bays, estuaries, coastal lakes,
lagoons and islands;
>
tidal waters of coastal rivers to
the limit of mangroves, as defined
by NSW Fisheries’ (1985) Figures
or the tidal limit whichever is
closer to the sea;
with the line on the Maps being taken
to the nearest cadastral boundary
and/or easily recognisable physical
boundary, in consultation with local
councils.
Figure 1 shows the coastal zone boundary
within the Coffs Harbour City LGA.
The Coastal Policy establishes a number
of broad objectives and “Strategic
Actions” that apply to the preparation of
LEPs. These actions and the means by
which this Strategy will address each
strategic action are outlined in
Appendix B.
Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009
11
Settlement Planning Guidelines –
Mid and Far North Coast Regional
Strategies 2007
This document supplements the Mid
North Coast Regional Strategy by
outlining guidelines for local growth
management strategies required under the
Regional Strategy; the OLC Settlement
Strategy is the equivalent of a local
growth management strategy.
The Guidelines provide details on the
environmental criteria to be used,
planning and urban design principles and
a housing and land monitor framework
for urban, as well as rural residential,
development. These Guidelines allow
current local settlement strategies to be
used as “interim local growth
management strategies” if the strategy is
consistent with the guidelines and
regional strategies; the status of the
interim OLC Settlement Strategy is derived
from the Guidelines.
The scope and content required by the
guidelines and how this strategy meets
these requirements are detailed in Table 1.
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Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009
Table 1
Settlement Guidelines
Scope and Content - Requirements and
Response
Requirements
Response
Strategies to include
a vision which
considers regional
context and role of
LGA in this region
The vision and
objectives detailed
earlier for the strategy
satisfy this
requirement.
Comply with
Sustainable
Settlement Guidelines
Appendix A details
the sustainability
criteria and how it is
met.
Detail community
consultation
Part 6 and Appendix
C detail the
community
engagement process.
Information on
constraints mapping
to be included
Part 5 details the
constraints mapping
used.
Information on
desired local
character and form
The locality strategies
detail the desired
local character and
form; see Part 8.
Services and
Infrastructure
Part 6 outlines the
services and
infrastructure issues
addressed.
Land supply and
demand
The balance sheet in
Part 3 describes the
supply and demand
for rural residential
housing and lots.
Land Release program
including location,
yields and timing
The land release
program is included
under the
Recommendations
after Part 8.
Servicing and
infrastructure
program
The services and
facilities will fall
within existing
programs
Review period
Review every five
years
Snapshots
The candidate areas for rural residential development considered under this Strategy
included Korora; Moonee; Bonville; Karangi; Coramba; Nana Glen; Corindi and Red Rock.
The Rural Residential Strategy is required to fit within a rigid framework of policies that
operate at the Local, Regional and State level; these policies require consideration of
sustainability criteria and generally encourage compact towns and cities.
Rural residential land can only be released if it is in accordance with a strategy agreed to
between council and the Department of Planning and consistent with the prescribed
sustainability principles of the Settlement Planning Guidelines.
Planning for rural residential land is required to demonstrate that the proposed areas can
maintain the character and role of the existing villages and must be integrated with the
supply of infrastructure and transport.
The Strategy will ultimately lead to the preparation of local environmental plans for the
rezoning of selected candidate areas, these local environmental plans are required to
include minimum subdivision standards and are not to permit concessional allotments.
Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009
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Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009