C e n t r a l T a b l e l a n d s Local Land Services Transitional Catchment Action Plan Disclaimer Copyright State of New South Wales 2013. This document, including maps and other visual material, has been prepared to generally guide regional and system- level planning and should not be used for assessment of specific sites. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the document, some content may be unverified or incomplete and you should seek independent advice before using the document as the basis for any decisions. The State of NSW, its agents and employees, disclaim any and all liability to any person in respect of, or as a consequence of, anything done or omitted to be done in reliance upon the whole or any part of this document. 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Enquiries Phone: 1300 795 299 Mail: PO Box 510 Cowra NSW 2794 Office: 30 Lynch Street Cowra NSW 2794 Web: http://centraltablelands.lls.nsw.gov. au/ Contents Executive Summary 1 About the Transitional Catchment Action Plan 1 The Central Tablelands LLS Region 2 How the transitional CAP was developed 4 The Planning Hierarchy 5 Plan snapshot 6 Description of the Planning Process 9 Transitioning from CMA to LLS 9 About the Transitional CAP 9 Development of the Interim Central Tablelands Local Strategic Plan 10 Guiding principles of the CAP development 10 Description of the Region and Subregions 13 The Central Tablelands LLS region 13 Local Landscapes in the Central Tablelands region 15 Actions and Targets 27 Environment 27 Profitable farming systems 28 Communities 29 Implementation and adaptation 31 Governance Principles 31 Adaptive management in action - triple loop learning 32 Working in partnership 34 Monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement 38 Reviewing the Central Tablelands Transitional CAP 39 Table Index Table 1 Snapshot of the region 14 Table 2 Slopes Local Landscape at a glance 17 Table 3 Tablelands at a glance 20 Table 4 Mixed Farming 23 Figure Index Figure 1 Central Tablelands LLS Region and its three local landscapes 3 Figure 2 High level summary of key changes in the development of the Transitional CAP 4 Figure 3 Planning hierarchy 5 Figure 4 Organisational and planning arrangement for LLS transition 9 Figure 5 Local Landscapes within the Central Tablelands Region 16 Figure 6 Central Tablelands governance principles for Transitional CAP delivery 31 Figure 7 General adaptive management approach 32 Figure 8 Triple Loop Learning adaptive management for Transitional CAP implementation 33 Figure 9 Program logic for partnership development 35 Figure 10 Partners in the delivery of the Central Tablelands Transitional CAP 36 Figure 11 Evaluation principles for the Central Tablelands Transitional CAP 38 Figure 12 CAP review triggers 39 ii Central Tablelands LLS Transitional Catchment Action Plan Executive Summary About the Transitional Catchment • maintaining the whole of government Action Plan approach 2014 will see the establishment of Local Land The previous work of the CMAs, community Services (LLS) in NSW. LLS will bring together and government has not been lost in the the Livestock Health and Pest Authorities development of the Transitional CAP, instead and Catchment Management Authorities it has been reviewed, synthesised and and part of the Department of Primary prioritised to meet LLS requirements. Some Industries into an organisation focussed on new data and information has been effective and efficient regional service generated, especially for the new local delivery. LLS will have broad roles across landscape profiles, but the strategic natural resource management (NRM), foundation of the Transitional CAP remains provision of agricultural advice, biosecurity strongly grounded in the previous work of and plant and animal pest control. the CMAs and their local communities and government agencies. No new actions, goals Eleven LLS regions will be established. Each or strategies have been developed, but the will be led by a local Board, with local staff Transitional CAP does have a stronger focus responsible for day to day management and on priority actions. As the CMAs have recently delivery. Over its first few years of operation, liaised extensively with NSW natural resource each LLS Board will develop a Local Strategic management agencies and the community, Plan covering all its areas of activity. consultation was not required to be In the initial stages of LLS operation, undertaken during the transition phase. Catchment Action Plans (CAPs) provide the The Central Tablelands Transitional CAP best framework for strategic delivery of deliberately shares a large number of NRM. Given the existing CAPs do not align common elements with the Central West with LLS regions, some have been amended Transitional CAP. This is seen as a strength in into Transitional CAPs. the initial stages of the Central West and This Transitional Central Tablelands CAP has Central Tablelands LLSs, because it will allow been primarily developed from the Central the robustness of the previously developed West and Lachlan CAPs, supplemented by and assessed CAPs to be used for NRM input from the Hawkesbury Nepean CAP and delivery and also facilitate whole of Hunter Central Rivers CAP. New CAPs for catchment approaches where required (eg these four regions were only recently for surface water management issues). approved by the Minister for Primary The Transitional CAP is intended for internal Industries, therefore a complete rewrite of use by the CMAs and Central Tablelands LLS. the CAPs was not required. Instead, the key It is focussed on synthesising NRM goals, components of those CAPs have been strategies, actions and targets with retained, with a particular focus on: considerable additional background • utilising the existing information and available in the four CAPs used in its knowledge base development. As an interim document, it will not be formally reviewed by the Natural • keeping the strong community Resources Commission or submitted to the ownership Minister for Primary Industries for approval, • using the existing vision, goals, strategies but an informal appraisal by the NRC and and actions. This has required a synthesis Minister will take place. of the approaches in the individual CAPs and the development of a new set of priorities to reflect the LLS region and operations 1 The Central Tablelands LLS Region including significant wineries at Orange, Cowra and Mudgee. The Central Tablelands region is located in central NSW and covers an area of Agriculturally, the region is highly diverse, approximately 31,365 km2. It includes the adding to the complexity of NRM issues. major towns of Bathurst, Blayney, Cowra, Evenly spread summer and winter rainfall Lithgow, Molong, Mudgee, Oberon and supports productive cropping systems with Orange and falls predominantly within grazing the most significant land use Wiradjuri Aboriginal country. followed by broad acre crops and horticultural enterprises including areas of fruit and The region is home to over 156,000 residents vegetable growing and viticulture. including an Aboriginal population of 7,012 (4.5% of the population). The area includes The variations in landform, agricultural properties that together make up 4.2% of industries, natural resources, biodiversity NSW’s annual value of agricultural and communities across the Central production, includes almost 10% of NSW’s Tablelands LLS region have been used to agricultural business and contains 3.2% of divide the region into three local landscapes. NSW’s agricultural land. Approximately 7% These are areas of common interest and of the region’s population is employed in connection within an integrated system of agriculture, fisheries and forestry. The region people, land, water and biodiversity (Figure also encompasses eight local government 1) areas (LGAs) and comprises 3% of the While the three local landscapes in the Murray-Darling Basin. Central Tablelands LLS region are depicted The region has a number of natural resource with a boundary, these are deliberately fuzzy assets such as national parks and culturally in recognition of the flexibility and lack of significant areas and is home to a vast range precision of the systems and because there is of native fauna and flora with some of these a high degree of interaction between being listed as threatened or endangered. adjoining local landscapes. The local landscapes are also influenced by, and The Central Tablelands is home to a diverse function within, larger systems and smaller range of industries including the major retail systems both inside and outside the region. centres of Bathurst and Orange and the major university city of Bathurst. Other significant industries across the Central Tablelands include mining operations which are focused around Orange, Lithgow and Mudgee. While a number of tourism operations exist right across the region 2 Central Tablelands LLS Transitional Catchment Action Plan Figure 1 Central Tablelands LLS Region and its three local landscapes 3 How the Transitional CAP was processes, based around a general “plan, do, developed review” process, with new data and information included as it comes to hand. For almost ten years, Catchment Action Plans Major reviews have been undertaken after (CAPs) have been the key strategic planning set periods, or in response to significant tool for regional NRM in NSW. The CAPs changes in the CMAs’ operating environment. have been developed in accordance with the In this instance, the establishment of LLS, as requirements of each CMA, aligned with a major change to the operating environment, state wide standards and priorities and has triggered a major review of the CAPs. incorporated a high degree of community and government input.