LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY Tuesday, 10th December, 1991 ______ Mr Speaker (The Hon. Kevin Richard Rozzoli) took the chair at 9.30 a.m. Mr Speaker offered the Prayer. COASTAL PROTECTION (AMENDMENT) BILL (No. 2) Second Reading Mr MOORE (Gordon), Minister for the Environment [9.31]: I move: That this bill be now read a second time. A high priority of this Government is its continued commitment to preserving our coastline for the future by co-ordinated and effective planning and management. In 1988 the Government made the decision to reconstitute the Coastal Council of New South Wales. The Coastal Council had functioned until 1985 when the then Minister, now the Leader of the Opposition, failed to reappoint that council. This Government's commitment to coastline management is greater than that evidenced by the previous Government. We recognise the great potential of the Coastal Council and therefore the need to amend the Coastal Protection Act to allow the council to function effectively. As an interim measure the New South Wales Coastal Committee was established in March 1989 under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act until the Coastal Protection Act could be amended. Under the Government's coastal policy the reconstituted Coastal Council will take on responsibility for monitoring and implementing policy and ongoing policy review, which is currently vested with the New South Wales Coastal Committee. It is through the Coastal Committee-cum-Coastal Council that the Government will continue to overcome the fragmentation of responsibility of ad hoc decision-making that hampered coastal management in the past. The membership of the new Coastal Council will be expanded from 10 to 16 with a quorum for a meeting being nine members. Local government will be represented by three members of councils on the coast who will be selected from a panel nominated by the Local Government and Shires Association. Local councils have a crucial role in planning and controlling the development, use and protection of the coast. This representation will ensure that local government has a forum in which coastal issues can be discussed with representatives of government departments. The Coastal Council is also to have a representative of the Department of Local Government and Co-operatives as a further reflection of the important role local government plays in the planning and protection of the coast. The addition of a representative on the council from the State Pollution Control Commission, which is to become part of the Environment Protection Authority, is recognition of the increasing importance of the control and prevention of pollution on our coast and the need to consider this at an early stage in the planning and management of the coast. The proposed representation of the Tourism Commission recognises the attractiveness and importance of our coast for tourism and the contribution that tourism can make to the economy of New South Wales, if well planned to be sensitive to the coast's Page 6140 environmental attributes. The Government's willingness to take seriously natural environmental protection on the coast will be reflected in the addition of a representative of the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales. This will mean that the views and knowledge of the many constituent bodies of the Nature Conservation Council can be made known to the Coastal Council during its deliberations. An amendment made to the bill by the Legislative Council provides for a representative of industry to be a member. The inclusion of such a person is consistent with the Government's commitment of having broad representation on the council. As there is not an established peak organisation or umbrella group that comprehensively represents all sections of industry the person to be appointed will be someone who, in the opinion of the Minister, represents as far as possible the broader interests of industry in the coastal zone. The seven representatives of government departments presently provided for in the Act will remain. These are now referred to as the Department of Planning, Office of Fisheries, the Soil Conservation Service, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Conservation and Land Management, Public Works Department and the Department of Mineral Resources. The appointment of an independent chairman who has expertise in coastal protection remains the same. The expanded representation on the Coastal Council will provide access to the conservation groups and the major public authorities involved in the setting of policy for the New South Wales coast. The proposed definition of the coastal zone will remove a relatively unwieldy and vague prescription and replace it with a definition that will ensure that the Coastal Council's deliberations are focused on the immediate coastal strip, which faces the greatest pressures. The coastal zone defines the council's area of operation. It will be the coastal waters of New South Wales, which extend three nautical miles from the coast, and one kilometre inland from the coastline and, for definitional reasons, any land or water between these areas. To provide the flexibility to allow the Coastal Council to consider other areas that are closely related to the coast or affect it, the bill provides for extensions to the coastal zone to be made. The Minister for Planning will be empowered to adjust the western boundary of the coastal zone so that it conforms to the line of a road, railway, watercourse, watershed or other topographical feature, or an allotment boundary, that is close to either side of that western boundary. He will also be empowered, by order published in the Government Gazette, to extend this zone to include a specified area of waters contiguous with the landward side of that landward boundary and a specified area of land located within one kilometre of those waters. The bill will amend the functions of the Coastal Council to ensure that its advice, reports and recommendations to the Minister for Planning are directed towards policies that should be adopted by the Government and public authorities; the implementation of these policies and management of the coastal zone; and co-ordination of the activities and policies of the Government and public authorities. The council will be directed to achieve these functions through being a forum for the exchange of information between the Government, public authorities and community organisations; advising councils on the management, protection and use of the coast; and advising the Minister for Planning and the Director of Planning on major development proposals. The Coastal Council will be guided by the overall requirement of contributing to the attainment of the objectives of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. Part III of the Coastal Protection Act is administered by the Minister for Public Works. Proposed section 38 will in certain circumstances require the concurrence of the Minister before a public authority may carry out development in, or grant consent to the development, occupation or use of, an area within the coastal zone. Proposed section 39 deals specifically with the carrying out of coastal development within any part of the coastal zone that is not within a local government area. Page 6141 At present there is a degree of duplication in existing sections 38 and 39 with the Minister and the Governor, acting on the recommendation of the Minister, having overlapping functions. Under proposed sections 38 and 39, the Governor's only function will be that of making regulations regulating, controlling or prohibiting the development, occupation or use of a specified area that is within the coastal zone and not within a local government area. Additional provisions, not in either of the existing sections, will require the Minister to keep a register containing copies of orders in force under proposed section 38 and to notify councils of those orders. The register will be required to be made available for public inspection without fee. The bill will also make a number of consequential amendments, and the opportunity has been taken to make some existing provisions consistent with current drafting practice. This bill is another example of the responsible and forward approach being taken by this Government towards the conservation of our precious coastline. The Coastal Council will assist the Government in the wise environmental management of our invaluable coastal resource. I commend the bill. Debate adjourned on motion by Mr Knowles. ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT (CONTRIBUTIONS PLANS) AMENDMENT BILL Second Reading Mr MOORE (Gordon), Minister for the Environment [9.38]: I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The bill deals with the need to provide some accountability for developers' contributions under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. The need to provide services and infrastructure in all areas where new development is occurring is well understood by this Government. The plight of residents of new release areas, with no access to transport, isolated from social contact and with no services or facilities for the community is not part of this Government's vision for Sydney. For councils currently experiencing a high level of growth, such as those in western Sydney and on the North Coast, the early provision of services in response to this growth is essential to avoid the physical and social problems associated with a lack of support facilities. High growth in an area results in large numbers of newcomers who need their local council to provide the community facilities that bring them together and help develop social networks. They also need, of course, the usual services such as roads and drainage, as it is no good having a brand new house if access to it is over a potholed road. Since the introduction of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act in 1979, section 94 has assisted local councils in providing the services and amenities needed as a result of new development.