Rural Residential Strategy Part 2 - Strategic Framework (.pdf)

Part 2 

Strategic Framework 

The Rural Residential Strategy is required 

to fit within a framework of policies that 

operate at the Local, Regional and State 

level. The documents that contain these 

policies are: 

• Coffs Harbour City Council Rural 

Residential Strategy, 1999; 

• Rural Lands Strategic Plan, 2002; 

• Coffs Harbour City “Our Living City” 

Settlement Strategy, 2007; 

• NSW Coastal Policy, 1977; 

• Draft Mid North Coast Regional 

Strategy, 2006; and 

• Settlement Planning Guidelines 

2007/Mid and Far North Coast 

Regional Strategies. 

Rural Residential Strategy 1999 

As indicated earlier, this strategy is the 

current local strategy for rural residential 

development. The strategy was prepared 

under the guidelines prepared by the then 

Department of Urban Affairs and 

Planning in 1995 entitled “Rural 

Settlement Guidelines on the North Coast 

of NSW”. These guidelines required an 

assessment of the LGA from a physical, 

social and servicing catchment perspective 

and required a consideration of demand 

and supply for rural residential 

development. The Guidelines also 

required a consideration of the settlement 

hierarchy and settlement patterns. 

The 1999 Strategy used the following 

physical catchment criteria to help 

determine preferred development areas: 

• slope < 30%; 

• banana lands (Classes 1, 2 and 3 

excluded); 

• regionally significant vegetation; 

• potentially contaminated land; 

• flood prone lands; 

• environmentally sensitive areas; 

• bushfire risk; 

• soil conservation/water quality; and 

• areas of local visual significance (ridge 

tops/green backdrop to the City). 

The 1999 Strategy resulted in the areas 

shown in Figure 2 being the preferred 

areas for rural residential development. 

Subsequently, land within Korora, Nana 

Glen and Coramba has been zoned for 

rural residential purposes. The land in 

Korora which is currently zoned for rural 

residential purposes includes the land 

generally north of the proposed Pacific 

Highway Bypass alignment within the 

preferred area and some land in the 

subsidiary area. 

The land at Coramba and Nana Glen 

zoned for rural residential purpose 

generally included the lands identified in 

the stage 1 (short term) release program 

and additional land identified under the 

Rural Lands Strategic Plan 2002. These 

lands were zoned Rural 1B under Local 

Environmental Plan (LEP) (Amendment 

No. 15) gazetted on 26 November 2004. 

Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009 7

It is to be noted that some of the Stage 2 

(medium term) release area in Nana Glen 

was also zoned Rural 1B under this LEP 

Amendment. The southernmost 

candidate area in Coramba and 

northernmost candidate area in Nana 

Glen Rail identified for short term release 

were not zoned under this LEP 

amendment because of environmental 

constraints identified under the Rural 

Lands Strategic Plan process. 

The Korora Rural Residential Release Area 

included a ‘preferred area’ and a 

‘subsidiary area’. Land in the preferred 

area not affected by the Pacific Highway 

Bypass or identified for higher density 

urban development was zoned Rural 1B 

under LEP (Amendment No. 3), gazetted 

in February 2004 and some areas in the 

steeper subsidiary areas were subsequently 

zoned Rural 1B following satisfactory 

environmental investigations (i.e. flora 

and fauna, geotechnical, bushfire hazard, 

effluent disposal). Landowners in the 

subsidiary area were able to put forward a 

case for rezoning following the carrying 

out of certain environmental 

investigations. 

It is to be noted that the ‘Infill 

Development’ areas at Boambee and ‘Tiki 

Road’ were also identified for short term 

release. Boambee (in the vicinity of 

Lindsays Road) was rezoned for rural 

residential purposes under LEP 

(Amendment No. 17). Rezoning of the 

Tiki Road area has been delayed by the 

Pacific Highway Upgrade Project, 

limitations on the land owing to flooding 

and an absence of resources to undertake 

the necessary studies. 

Rural Lands Strategic Plan 2002 

The Rural Lands Strategic Plan provided a 

strategic direction for all land zoned for 

rural purposes in the LGA. The Plan 

applied to land zoned Rural 1A and land 

zoned or intended to be zoned Rural 1B. 

The Strategic Plan sought to achieve a 

triple bottom line of economic, social and 

environmental sustainability. The 

Strategic Plan incorporated changes to 

Coffs Harbour City LEP 2000 for the 

rezoning of the rural residential areas in 

Nana Glen and Coramba discussed earlier 

and introduced a number of ‘Place’ based 

Development Control Plans (DCPs) to 

guide rural and rural residential 

development. The place based plans 

related to: 

• Korora and Coastal Hinterland; 

• Coffs Rural; 

• Karangi – Upper Orara – Coramba; 

• Nana Glen – Bucca; 

• Lowanna – Ulong; 

• Northern Beaches. 

The Rural Lands Strategic Plan also 

included a Monitoring and Performance 

Audit and a Financial Program to ensure 

the plan was implemented and the triple 

bottom line objectives are met. 

Figure 2 shows the areas identified as 

candidate under the 1999 Strategy. 

8 Coffs Harbour City Rural Residential Strategy 2009

Our Living City Settlement Strategy 

2008 

The Our Living City (OLC) Settlement 

Strategy has been prepared to guide 

urban development in the LGA for the 

next 23 years. The OLC Settlement 

Strategy was prepared to meet the 

obligations for urban release strategies 

under the North Coast Regional 

Environmental Plan. The OLC Settlement 

Strategy details areas to be zoned or 

investigated for urban and rural 

residential purposes. 

The Strategy envisages a population of 

approximately 99,000 people by 2031 

requiring an additional 12,000 dwellings. 

Rural residential dwellings are anticipated 

to comprise 5.33% (i.e. 640 dwellings) of 

this future dwelling stock. 

The candidate areas for rural residential 

development to be considered under this 

Strategy are shown in Figure 3. 

The Department of Planning has endorsed 

an interim agreement to allow some areas 

identified in the Strategy to be considered 

for rezoning for urban purposes in the 

short term. These areas include: 

• North Coffs Release Area; 

• South Coffs Release Area; 

• Two land parcels in Bonville; 

• Two land parcels subject to zoning 

anomalies; and 

• Three parcels of land for special 

investigation. 

The Department of Planning intends to 

consider the remaining contents of the 

OLC Settlement Strategy when the Mid 

North Coast Regional Strategy is 

completed. It is expected that the OLC 

Settlement Strategy will be amended to 

incorporate the findings and 

recommendations from this Strategy. 

Mid North Coast Regional Strategy 

This Strategy was endorsed in 2009 and 

applies to eight local government areas 

including: 

• Coffs Harbour; 

• Nambucca; 

• Clarence Valley; 

• Bellingen; 

• Kempsey; 

• Port Macquarie-Hastings; 

• Greater Taree; and 

• Great Lakes. 

The Strategy states that its primary 

purpose is to ensure adequate land is 

available and appropriately located for the 

housing and employment needs for the 

region to the year 2031. The Strategy 

projects 91,000 additional people, 58,400 

new homes and the provision of 47,000 

new employment opportunities in the 

Region. For the Coffs Coast, which 

includes Nambucca, Bellingen and Coffs 

Harbour, 18,600 dwellings are projected. 

As can be seen by the dwelling 

projections under the OLC Settlement 

Strategy, the majority of this new housing 

will be located in the Coffs Harbour LGA. 

This is confirmed in the Regional Strategy 

wherein it states: 

Coffs Harbour, Moonee Beach, 

Woolgoolga and Sawtell-Toormina- 

Boambee East have the greatest 

potential to accommodate the growth 

expected in the coastal areas of this 

sub region. 


The following centres hierarchy is 

outlined in the Strategy: 

• Coffs Harbour – Major Regional 

Centre; 

• Woolgoolga – Town; 

• Red Rock – Coastal Village; 

• Corindi Beach – Coastal Village; 

• Mullaway – Coastal Village; 

• Sandy Beach – Coastal Village; 

• Emerald Beach – Coastal Village; 

• Moonee Beach – Coastal Village; 

• Nana Glen – Inland Village; 

• Coramba – Inland Village; 

• Ulong – Inland Village; and 

• Lowanna – Inland Village. 

Coffs Harbour is designated as a ‘Major 

Regional Centre’ to serve the Coffs Coast, 

Woolgoolga is designated as a supporting 

Town Centre and the remaining centres 

are designated as villages. It is interesting 

to note that the significant centres of 

Sawtell, Toormina, Boambee and Bonville 

are not separately recognised in the 

hierarchy under the Strategy. 

The Strategy requires the amount of 

housing in existing urban areas to be 

increased from 20% to 40%; this will 

require a dramatic shift to more rigorous 

urban consolidation policies and 

provisions at the local level. In relation to 

rural residential development the Strategy 

states: 

• No further rural residential areas will 

be supported beyond those identified 

in the Regional Strategy unless the 

local growth management strategy 

can demonstrate that the proposed 

areas: 

> are consistent with the 

Sustainability Criteria. 

> maintain the character and role of 

the existing village centre. 

• Future rural residential land will only 

be zoned for release if it is in 

accordance with a local growth 

management strategy agreed to 

between council and the Department 

of Planning and consistent with the 

principles of the Settlement Planning 

Guidelines. 

• Rural residential development will be 

permitted in coastal areas only if 

already zoned or within an agreed 

growth management strategy. 

• Planning for rural residential land 

must be integrated with the supply of 

infrastructure and transport. 

• The Department of Primary Industries 

and the Department of Planning will 

assist councils with the development 

of appropriate subdivision standards 

for rural zones. 

• Local environmental plans will include 

minimum subdivision standards for 

rural and environment protection 

zones. 


• Local environmental plans will include 

provisions to limit dwellings in rural 

and environmental zones. 

• Local environmental plans will not 

include provisions to permit 

concessional allotments. 

It is necessary for this Strategy to 

demonstrate compliance with the 

sustainability criteria outlined in the 

Strategy. This criteria relates to: 

• infrastructure provision; 

• access; 

• housing diversity; 

• employment lands; 

• avoidance of risk; 

• natural resources; 

• environmental protection; and 

• quality and equity in services. 

Appendix A describes the criterion and 

measures to meet each criterion in this 

Strategy. 

NSW Coastal Policy 1997 

The NSW Coastal Policy was developed to 

guide management and planning of the 

coastal zone into the next century. The 

coastal zone includes the following areas: 

• three nautical miles seaward of the 

mainland and offshore islands; 

• one kilometre landward of the open 

coast high water mark; 

• a distance of one kilometre around: 

> all bays, estuaries, coastal lakes, 

lagoons and islands; 

> tidal waters of coastal rivers to 

the limit of mangroves, as defined 

by NSW Fisheries’ (1985) Figures 

or the tidal limit whichever is 

closer to the sea; 

with the line on the Maps being taken 

to the nearest cadastral boundary 

and/or easily recognisable physical 

boundary, in consultation with local 

councils. 

Figure 1 shows the coastal zone boundary 

within the Coffs Harbour City LGA. 

The Coastal Policy establishes a number 

of broad objectives and “Strategic 

Actions” that apply to the preparation of 

LEPs. These actions and the means by 

which this Strategy will address each 

strategic action are outlined in 

Appendix B. 


Settlement Planning Guidelines – 

Mid and Far North Coast Regional 

Strategies 2007 

This document supplements the Mid 

North Coast Regional Strategy by 

outlining guidelines for local growth 

management strategies required under the 

Regional Strategy; the OLC Settlement 

Strategy is the equivalent of a local 

growth management strategy. 

The Guidelines provide details on the 

environmental criteria to be used, 

planning and urban design principles and 

a housing and land monitor framework 

for urban, as well as rural residential, 

development. These Guidelines allow 

current local settlement strategies to be 

used as “interim local growth 

management strategies” if the strategy is 

consistent with the guidelines and 

regional strategies; the status of the 

interim OLC Settlement Strategy is derived 

from the Guidelines. 

The scope and content required by the 

guidelines and how this strategy meets 

these requirements are detailed in Table 1. 

Table 1 

Settlement Guidelines 

Scope and Content - Requirements and 

Response 

Requirements 

Strategies to include 

a vision which 

considers regional 

context and role of 

LGA in this region 

Comply with 

Sustainable 

Settlement Guidelines 

Detail community 

consultation 

Information on 

constraints mapping 

to be included 

Information on 

desired local 

character and form 

Services and 

Infrastructure 

Land supply and 

demand 

Land Release program 

including location, 

yields and timing 

Servicing and 

infrastructure 

program 

Review period 

Response 

The vision and 

objectives detailed 

earlier for the strategy 

satisfy this 

requirement. 

Appendix A details 

the sustainability 

criteria and how it is 

met. 

Part 6 and Appendix 

C detail the 

community 

engagement process. 

Part 5 details the 

constraints mapping 

used. 

The locality strategies 

detail the desired 

local character and 

form; see Part 8. 

Part 6 outlines the 

services and 

infrastructure issues 

addressed. 

The balance sheet in 

Part 3 describes the 

supply and demand 

for rural residential 

housing and lots. 

The land release 

program is included 

under the 

Recommendations 

after Part 8. 

The services and 

facilities will fall 

within existing 

programs 

Review every five 

years 


Snapshots 

The candidate areas for rural residential development considered under this Strategy 

included Korora; Moonee; Bonville; Karangi; Coramba; Nana Glen; Corindi and Red Rock. 

The Rural Residential Strategy is required to fit within a rigid framework of policies that 

operate at the Local, Regional and State level; these policies require consideration of 

sustainability criteria and generally encourage compact towns and cities. 

Rural residential land can only be released if it is in accordance with a strategy agreed to 

between council and the Department of Planning and consistent with the prescribed 

sustainability principles of the Settlement Planning Guidelines. 

Planning for rural residential land is required to demonstrate that the proposed areas can 

maintain the character and role of the existing villages and must be integrated with the 

supply of infrastructure and transport. 

The Strategy will ultimately lead to the preparation of local environmental plans for the 

rezoning of selected candidate areas, these local environmental plans are required to 

include minimum subdivision standards and are not to permit concessional allotments.

Rural Residential Strategy Part 2 - Strategic Framework (.pdf)

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