Executive summary

Lake Macquarie City is located in the NSW Hunter Region, approximately 120km north of Sydney. The defining feature of the city is Lake Macquarie, the largest coastal lake in NSW. The lake is connected to the ocean and open coast via Swansea Channel. The coastal zone of Lake Macquarie spans the lake and part of its catchment, the coastline and Swansea Channel. The southern part of the lake’s foreshore and catchment area incorporates land within the Central Coast local government area. The coastline of Lake Macquarie shares a sediment compartment with the City of Newcastle to the north. The Lake Macquarie coastal zone is ecologically rich, physically dynamic and an attractive place to visit and live. It is part of the traditional country of the Awabakal people. Awabakal people have lived around Lake Macquarie and utilised its aquatic resources for thousands of years. The natural assets in the city provide a quality lifestyle highly valued by the Lake Macquarie community. The coastal zone is heavily utilised by residents and visitors, particularly during summer. In 2015, a Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) was prepared for the Lake Macquarie Coastal Zone, in accordance with the objects of the NSW Coastal Protection Act 1979. This Coastal Management Program (CMP) for the Lake Macquarie coastal zone provides an update of the CZMP and responds to the objects of the Coastal Management Act 2016 and meets all necessary requirements identified in the Act and NSW Coastal Manual. The CMP builds on the successes of the CZMP and other previous programs, which have proven to be highly successful in restoring the health of the Lake Macquarie estuary and embedding systems to mitigate the impacts of coastal hazards, while continuing to provide healthy coastal environments enjoyed by the community. The CMP identifies 111 priority actions across the three parts of the coastal zone: our coastline (Part A), our estuary (Part B) and Swansea Channel (Part C). While Lake Macquarie City Council is responsible for a large proportion of these actions, effective management of the coastal zone cannot be achieved by local government alone. The CMP identifies collaborative governance arrangements with all relevant stakeholders including state agencies, businesses and residents. It also includes a business plan which demonstrates the benefits of the CMP actions, and a framework to fund these actions into the future. The CMP provides a pathway to achieve its vision of achieving “a healthy, resilient coastal zone”.