New South Wales
Reports:|NRM|Coastal Design|Nominate|SOB Report|
|Tweed|Lennox|Sharks|CB Award|Hunter|Weed|Bondi|

CHANGES FOR NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - COASTAL COUNCIL

With re-election of the NSW Labor Government a number of significant institutional changes were made for Natural Resource Management. This has led to the NSW Coastal Council being placed within the newly created Department of Sustainable Natural Resources. The Coastal Council team (3 people) reviews all draft Local Environmental Plans produced by local government in the coastal zone and many of their Development Applications (DAs). They also provide advice on many aspects of coastal development - the introduction of the new Coastal Protection SEPP 71 also brings all new coastal 'master plans' for certain types of subdivision before the Secretariat team for review and comment.

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COASTAL DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR NSW

The NSW Coastal Council has released the Guidelines to address developments which pay little attention to urban design principles. The Guidelines were launched by the Minister for Planning, The Hon Dr Andrew Refshauge, in March 2003, and are intended to inform developers, local councils, and communities of the principles for best practice in urban design for cities, towns, villages and hamlets on the coast. The Guidelines are available on www.coastalcouncil.nsw.gov.au

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COASTAL AWARD NOMINATIONS

The NSW Coastal Council is currently looking for nominations for the 2003 NSW Coastal Awards in September. Surfrider picked up the Outstanding Community Involvement Award in 2001, and is well placed to be acknowledged this year.

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BEACHWATCH REPORT DUE SOON

The State of the Beaches Report for the Sydney - Hunter - Illawarra region will provide recreational water quality results for the summer season 2002 - 2003, along with winter season 2002. The report is due to be released in October.

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TWEED BRANCH WORKING WITH NEW YORK

Surfrider's local experience with the sand-bypass system at the Tweed River mouth is proving valuable for the New York Chapter who has been in touch recently. New York Chapter faces a similar proposal on NY beaches

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SURFRIDER HOSTS LENNOX SEWAGE DISPOSAL WORKSHOP

Surfrider recently held an evening workshop at Lennox Head to discuss options for sewage treatment at nearby Skennars Head. Four local councillors were present with local Mayor Silver speaking on behalf of Ballina Shire Council. Surfrider is compiling the consensus responses from the workshop and will present these to the Council project team for consideration. Surfrider believes that the current practice of discharging effluent into the ocean and waterways is wasteful and inappropriate. For further information on the proposal contact Ted Cochrane on 02 6687 5075 or Mel Mott on 6687 5005.

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GREY NURSE SHARKS

Conservation of the Grey Nurse Shark is a major marine biodiversity issue for NSW - see the "Wet Net" link on the links page at www.surfrider.org.au for an ABC Environment Report on this iconic threatened species.

CSIRO tagging study web page.

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BLACK HEAD WINS CLEAN BEACH AWARD

Black Head Beach on the Mid North Coast of NSW has won the inaugural Australian Clean Beach Challenge for the title of 'Australia's Friendliest Beach, 2003' in a ceremony in Brisbane. For more information on the Challenge see below.

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NEWCASTLE'S HUNTER BRANCH

Newy's been busy as ever - attending Coastal and Estuary meetings, helping out with the push to change existing parking regulations near our beaches and getting involved in a Hunter-wide environmental "umbrella group" in order to assist with the adopting of Healthy Rivers policies. Hunter branch is new and finding it's feet, and Surfider is keen to hear from any members living in the Hunter region with any issues or good things happening in the area.

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BONDI SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT UPGRADE

Sydney's infamous Bondi Beach will receive a $95 million upgrade of the sewage treatment plant. The initiative follows a $90m improvement of the Cronulla sewage treatment works. The North Bondi plant, processing the equivalent of 140 Olympic sized swimming pools of human waste daily, will be modernised to improve pumping and decrease the potency of the odour emitted during treatment. Surfrider will be keeping a close eye on this one.

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