Land use assessment
Decisions regarding the zoning and development of land have the potential to impact upon mineral resources, including coal, petroleum and extractive resources, by restricting or prohibiting access for exploration and mining. The Minerals and Land Use Assessment program has an important role in ensuring that current and potential mineral resources are considered in land use planning decisions by state and local government agencies.
Industry & Investment NSW (I & I NSW) - Mineral Resources branch (‘Mineral Resources’), in coordination with other I & I NSW divisions, provides advice to the NSW Department of Planning, other government agencies and local government authorities on planning initiatives, geology and mineral resources across the state to assist and inform land use planning and decision making.
Mineral Resources also cooperates with other agencies, stakeholders and community representatives on regional assessments such as the Comprehensive Coastal Assessment (CCA) that provide information for use in land use planning. The Coastal Quaternary geological map series at 1:25 000 scale form fundamental data layers for the CCA.
The Land Use Assessment team conducts resource assessments in order to provide local government authorities with advice on known and potential mineral resources for use in land use planning. This advice is provided in response to a local planning direction issued by the Minister for Planning under Section 117 (2) of the Environment Planning and Assessment Act, 1979 (Direction 1.3 – Mining, Petroleum Production and Extractive Industries). This information is also a valuable source of data for other government agencies involved in land use planning and natural resource management.
The purpose of Direction 1.3 is to prevent unnecessary loss of access to important mineral, petroleum and extractive resources due to inappropriate zoning. It requires councils to consult with Mineral Resources if proposed local environmental plans (LEPs) are likely to prohibit or restrict the development of coal, petroleum, mineral and extractive resources of state and regional significance that have been identified by the branch. If Mineral Resources objects to a draft LEP, the council must satisfy the Department of Planning that any inconsistency with the 117 Direction is justified.
Following the issuing of the direction in 1994, Mineral Resources commenced a mapping program to systematically provide data on the location of mineral and extractive resources to councils throughout the state. By 2005, when work on the program was suspended, data had been provided for most local government areas in the more densely populated eastern parts of the state.
In 2007, Mineral Resources commenced a state-wide mineral resource audit to provide data on the location of mineral and extractive resources and potential resource areas on a local government area (LGA) basis. The project was initiated in response to the NSW Government’s reforms to the planning system which require all councils in the state to prepare new comprehensive LEPS using a new standard LEP template. The audit will update resource information for those LGAs where data had previously been supplied under the former S117 Direction 1.3 mapping program. It will also provide data for those LGAs not previously covered. Information is being progressively supplied to local councils and NSW Department of Planning in the form of maps (digital and hard copy) and a brief explanatory report.
In February 2007, the State Environmental Planning Policy (Mining, Petroleum and Extractive Industries) 2007 (SEPP) was gazetted. The SEPP, which was developed in consultation with Mineral Resources, consolidates and updates many existing planning provisions related to mineral, petroleum and extractive resources and also introduces new provisions which protect identified resources of state and regional significance from being affected by incompatible development on adjacent lands.
The Sydney Metropolitan Strategy was released by the state government in December 2005 to manage Sydney’s growth over the next 25 years. It underpins more detailed planning at the sub-regional and local government level. Part of the strategy involves protection of significant natural resources in rural lands, including mineral and extractive resources. An action in the plan (E4.1.1) requires the Department of Planning to map regionally significant mineral, petroleum, extractive and agricultural resources in partnership with Mineral Resources. Data on mineral, petroleum and extractive resources has been updated by the branch for this purpose in conjunction with the NSW Mineral Resource Audit. The strategy is currently under review.
Mineral Resources also provides advice to the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW) regarding areas being considered for acquisition and reservation under the National Parks & Wildlife Act 1974 (NPW Act). Any land proposed for reservation under the Act is referred to relevant government agencies, including, Industry & Investment NSW for comment in accordance with a reserve referral process that provides a mechanism for identifying potential land use conflicts and for resolving such conflicts, where possible, through negotiation between agencies. The branch assesses the impacts of reserve proposals on known and potential mineral resources and provides advice to ensure that any impacts are considered in determining whether or not the land should be reserved. In the case of proposals which have significant conservation values and significant mineral values, reservation as a State Conservation Area (SCA) is an option. SCA is the only conservation reserve category which allows access for exploration and mining, subject to environmental assessment.
The NPW Act requires that the status of SCAs be reviewed every five years (from the commencement of the relevant section of the NPW Act in 2002) to determine whether they can be converted to national parks or should remain as SCAs. The first five year review of all SCAs in NSW (127 in total) was conducted in 2007/08 in conjunction with DECCW. This review assessed the mineral values of all SCAs and made recommendations as to whether they should be converted to national parks or remain as SCAs. The results of the review were published by DECCW in November 2008. The review recommended that six SCAs and parts of four others be converted to national parks or nature reserves.
For further information please contact the Land Use Team.
(Last updated on 01/04/2010)