Flood Studies

Flood Prone Land Policy

Under the NSW Flood Prone Land Policy the management of flood prone land is, primarily, the responsibility of councils. The primary objective of the policy is to reduce the impact of flooding and flood liability on individual owners and occupiers of flood prone property, and to reduce private and public losses resulting from floods, utilising ecologically positive methods wherever possible. That is:

A merit approach shall be adopted for all development decisions in the floodplain

To take into account social, economic and ecological factors, as well as flooding considerations;

Both mainstream and overland flooding shall be addressed, using the merit approach, in preparation and implementation by councils of strategically generated floodplain risk management plans;

The impact of flooding and flood liability on existing developed areas identified in floodplain risk management plans shall be reduced by flood mitigation works and measures, including on-going emergency management measures, the raising of houses where appropriate and by development controls; and

The potential for flood losses in all areas proposed for development or redevelopment shall be contained by the application of ecologically sensitive planning and development controls.

Council is currently developing flood studies and floodplain risk management studies in accordance with the Flood Prone Land Policy and the Floodplain Development Manual.

NSW South Wales Floodplain Development Manual

FloodPlain Management Program - December 2024 Update(PDF, 117KB)