Community feedback informs planning controls to mitigate future flooding risk in Waverley in line with state legislative requirements

This week, Waverley Council adopted updated planning controls to ensure that future development reduces risk to property and life during extreme weather events.

These changes respond to State Government legislative requirements introduced in 2021, and reaffirmed in the recently released NSW Flood Risk Management Manual in 2023. The changes also implement the Waverley LGA Flood Study which was adopted in 2021.

As part of the process, both the Waverley LGA Flood Study, and proposed planning controls and flood maps, were independently reviewed and verified as being in line with best practice and State Government requirements.  Additional comprehensive, rigorous and independent investigations also found that implementation of these changes would not result in negative impacts on property prices and insurance premiums.

Mayor of Waverley, Paula Masselos, said legislative requirements and community consultation were an important part of Council’s approach to managing future flood risks.

“These flood planning controls have been put in place to make our community safer, provide certainty and reduce risk for future generations. To the 10,000 people we wrote to, we would like to thank everyone who provided their feedback on what is a very important legislative requirement for councils across the state,” Mayor Masselos said.

She continued, “Council will also be undertaking additional steps to manage flood risk. As part of the next phase, the Waverley Floodplain Management Committee has been re-instated, comprised of both community and expert membership, that will be consulted on the development of flood mitigation solutions. This will provide a roadmap for further works Council and the state government will need to undertake to help reduce flood risk.”

-ENDS-

Media inquiries: media@waverley.nsw.gov.au or 0416 075 532.

Notes to editor

• Updated information on potential flood risk in Waverley has been publicly available since the Waverley LGA Flood Study was first exhibited in July 2020 and subsequently adopted in 2021. The amendments to the Waverley Development Control Plan (DCP) used the best available flood information for the purposes of applying planning controls to new development.
• The recently released NSW Flood Risk Management Manual in 2023 requires councils to define flood planning areas and planning controls in their Development Control Plans (DCP).