smiths lake planning study volume 1: text - Great Lakes Council

INTRODUCTION 2
1.3 The Study Area
There are two study areas for the Study. The wider study area includes the villages of Smiths
Lake, Blueys Beach, Charlotte Bay, Bungwahl and Tarbuck Bay, and rural areas within the
subcatchment that drains to Smiths Lake. It is called the Smiths Lake Area (the SLA).
A smaller study area will focus on potential expansion of Smiths Lake Village. It is called the
Smiths Lake Village Area (the SLVA).
The two study areas are shown in Figure 1-1.
1.3.1 Smiths Lake Area
The SLA is bounded by Boomerang Drive at Blueys Beach and the Wallingat State Forest to
the north; the catchment divide near Round Hill to the west; a line north of Seal Rocks Road at
the south; and the coast.
Overall the SLA takes in about 60 km 2 of land and water area. However, the land component
would have an area of about 22 km 2 . The study area contains a variety of landforms including
steep headlands, low coastal plains, lake and estuarine lands, and steeper forested and partly
cleared hills and slopes.
1.3.2 Smiths Lake Village
The SLVA adjoins and surrounds the boundaries of the Village of Smiths Lake. It takes in
about 3 km 2 and contains steep, vegetated landforms, including lakeshore and estuarine land,
forested toe, mid and upper slopes, ridge tops and partly urbanised areas.
1.4 Study Goals and Objectives
The study has two goals:
1. Identify land with capability and suitability for urban development and formulate
recommendations for the location, form, infrastructure needs and socio-economic impacts of
future land releases in the SLVA; and
2. Identify land capability and suitability units in the SLA with sufficient precision to enable
broad-scale environmental planning attributes to be identified and considered by the
community.
The objectives of the study are to identify, document and/or resolve the following issues in both
study areas:
• soils and geotechnical characteristics;
• flooding, hydrology and drainage;
• flora and fauna;
• aboriginal and European heritage;
SMITHS_LAKE_PLANNING_STUDY.DOC
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