OUR ENVIRONMENT Planning priority 6 – Protect and improve our environment The natural environment is a priority for our community (Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020). Relative to other areas of the Hunter, the MidCoast contains extensive waterways, coastal landscapes and diverse natural areas with high levels of biodiversity. Whilst having diverse landscapes and species, our biodiversity is under pressure. Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation from clearing, introduction of invasive plants and animals, the impacts of climate change and catastrophic bushfires have pushed biodiversity and natural ecological systems into serious decline, undermining their uniqueness, quality, productivity and amenity value. Alongside these environmental lands and waterways, our rural activities contribute to our region’s landscape and economic viability. Together these areas make up 98% of the MidCoast. The level of environmental base data and the approaches used to manage the environmental values of the land across the three sets of planning controls differs significantly. For example: • the Great Lakes LEP incorporates numerous clauses and mapping layers to identify the environmental values of the land, including wetlands and watercourses • tree preservation orders are applied to areas of the Great Lakes region only • environmental clauses are included in both the Great Lakes and Greater Taree LEPs, focusing on improved environmental outcomes. The Greater Taree clause is limited, only applying to the ‘Big Swamp’ location.
MidCoast: Local Strategic Planning Statement
45
