Council knows that the landscape and lifestyle of its coastline is highly valued by residents
and visitors for its long sandy beaches, pocket bays, dramatic cliffs, coastal lakes and expanses
of forest as well as good fishing, surfing, and walking, great regional produce and peaceful lifestyles
associated with relatively low key development. Whilst permanent residents enjoy the quiet village
lifestyle of small coastal communities, the population of many of the Shoalhaven's coastal villages
increases five fold in peak holiday periods, primarily with visitors from Sydney, Canberra and regional NSW.
Both natural processes and development pressure have the potential to detract from the high value that residents and visitors place on the Shoalhaven coastline.
The purposes of the Shoalhaven City Coastline Management Plan include:
- Help Council and the City's coastal communities to define and appreciate the specific qualities of the City's coastline.
The Plan presents an opportunity to highlight the outstanding unifying themes and features of the City's coastline.
The intent is to understand the important coastal qualities that the community wants to ensure are looked after and passed on to future generations;
- Highlight trends in coastal processes (erosion, recession, flooding, landslip) and land use pressures that have implications for Council's decisions in managing its responsibilities for the coast;
- Raise Councillor and community awareness of threats to natural (biodiversity and scenic), social and economic assets in the coastal zone and the scale of responses that are necessary for effective protection of those assets;
- Provide a systematic approach to identifying issues and their significance, and for deciding how best to manage those issues (which should be addressed first, what options are available and choosing between them);
- Place Shoalhaven City coastline management issues in a natural resource management framework that is consistent with statewide policies and plans;
- Clarify Council's responsibilities and commitments to coastal zone management and how responsibilities are shared and co-ordinated; and
- Provide the necessary process and documentation for Council to access State funds for works in the coastal zone.
