If you are concerned about the removal of protection for local bushland in Gosford Council’s draft Local Environment Plan, please copy and paste this draft letter into an email (drag your mouse across the text you want to copy then CRTL-C it), adding your name and address/suburb at the bottom, and send it to before April 8th…
To:
Subject: GOSFORD LEP submission
Dear Mr Wilson
I am very concerned about the loss of environmental protection, inappropriate zones and lack of a long term strategic vision for the identification and protection of high conservation areas and protection of our open space and bushland in general in the draft LEP. In addition, I am concerned that essential information which should inform and be integrated into the LEP ( biodiversity, climate change and native vegetation mapping) has not been included in the document despite being current and available. I am not convinced that other types of planning instruments are sufficient to address these issues as contended by Council officers.
I submit that the whole LEP needs to be reviewed, changed and re exhibited to ensure that all these matters are adequately addressed.
In addition I submit the following more detailed comments:
1. The LEP should have an Environmental protection zone (other than national parks) that excludes any residential housing.
2. All the lands acquired by Council for the Coastal Open Space system (COSS Lands, ridgelines etc) should be zoned E2 – Environmental Conservation (not RE1 which allows for things such as motor racing tracks, caravan parks, paint ball centres, restaurants and much more) and this zone’s definition should be changed or an additional E zone added to create a zoning option which prohibits residential housing.
3. Similarly, other sensitive lands including bushland reserves and land of conservation importance also be zoned E2 Environmental Conservation not RE1. Including, but not limited to:
Pearl Beach
Pearl Beach Arboretum,
Pearl beach bushland foreshore areas
Pearl Beach lagoon and creek??
Crown lands at the end of Amethyst Ave that adjoin the national park (known as the Mazlin farm and around the fire station)
Paul Landa Reserve
Woy Woy Peninsula
Umina Coastal Sand plain Woodland (UCSW) next to the Umina Caravan Park,
any other UCSW land in public ownership,
Burrawang Bushland Reserve at Hillview St Woy Woy
Rainforest area and Bushland between Mt Ettalong Rd Umina Beach/Caravan Park
Blackwall Mountain
Mt Ettalong headland,
Steep lands between Pearl Beach estate and National Park
Steep land currently 6a behind Sylvania Rd /Othanna
Steep land off Neera Rd, Umina– palm tree grove,
Kahibah lagoon/wetland
Everglades lagoon/wetland
Iluka lagoon/wetland
Kahibah, Ettalong and Iluka creeks
Umina, Ocean Beach and Ettalong Beach Dunes including bushland areas along foreshore.
Steep land behind Koolewong
Area next to St John the Baptist catholic school off Warramunga Clse
Public reserve off Nagari Rd Woy Woy Sth Bushland
4.The Gosford LEP should include a biodiversity clause and associated mapping to protect its high conservation areas such as, endangered ecological communities, wetlands, rainforests, hanging swamps, wildlife corridors. Such a clause would not prohibit development – but would trigger a higher level of environmental assessment in areas where for example there are endangered flora or fauna or endangered ecological communities. This clause is critical to protect and effectively manage our high conservation lands which occur across many different land use and land ownership types.
5.The LEP should include mechanisms to protect clearing of native vegetation either by including a clause in the LEP and then seeking to have the Gosford LGA listed on the schedule of Native Vegetation Act 2003 to exclude its operation in Gosford (as done by Hawkesbury Council) or by including an additional clause in the LEP which requires consent for the clearing of native vegetation. The draft LEP allows for clearing of native vegetation without any assessments or approvals – it does not protect native vegetation on either conservation or other zoned land, this is quite unacceptable.
6.There is no consideration of climate change impacts including sea level rise and impacts on biodiversity. Gosford was ranked third most at risk in a national assessment of coastal vulnerability as a result of sea level rise.
The LEP needs to have a clause which allows for considerations of the impact of climate change on land and for modifications as more information becomes known about sea level rise and the likely impact of climate change. Council’s current climate change mapping which shows likely sea level rises should be an overlay on the LEP mapping.
Yours sincerely