A Coastal Management Program (CMP) is a plan of action for Council, public authorities, and land managers responsible for management of the coastal zone to:

• address coastal hazard risks
• preserve habitats and cultural uses and values
• encourage sustainable economic, and built development in the coastal zone
• maintain or improve recreational amenity and resilience
• adapt to emerging issues such as population growth and climate change.

The Hawkesbury-Nepean River System Coastal Management Program (CMP) is a partnership between local and state government agencies to support the coordinated management and sustainable development of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system, including Pittwater esturies, Broken Bay, Brisbane Water for the benefit of nature, the economy and the community.

Under the Coastal Managment Act, councils are required to take a systems approach to coastal management looking at coastal zone management issues in the broader, catchment scale context. The tidal and estuarine reaches of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system extend from the confluence of the Grose River at Yarramundi 145km downstream to Broken Bay intersecting 6 Local Government Areas. In order to consistently and effectively address catchment-scale issues, it is important that the 6 local councils with management jurisdiction of the river system work together and that one program is prepared to guide this process.

Council is currently involved in the development of 4 CMPs. We are leading 2 - the Open Coast and Lagoons CMP, which will cover most of our coastline and lagoons, and the Collaroy-Narrabeen Beach CMP. Click here for more information.

The Hawkesbury-Nepean CMP covers the entire tidal and estuarine reach of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River System and associated estuaries including Brisbane Water, Broken Bay and Pittwater. This covers the Local Government Areas of the Central Coast, Northern Beaches, Ku-ring-gai, Hornsby, The Hills and Hawkesbury.

We are partnering with Central Coast, Ku-ring-gai, Hornsby, The Hills and Hawkesbury Councils to develop a whole-of-system CMP for the tidal reaches of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River System. It is envisaged that this CMP will contain actions that address both catchment wide processes as well as LGA specific actions that address local scale issues which will need to be dealt with by the individual council for example Pittwater waterway specific actions would need to be addressed by our council.

A website which collates the information from all six partnering councils has been developed and is available here.

The broad objectives of the CMP are stated below however it is anticipated that they may be refined during the development of the CMP to reflect stakeholder and community feedback.

• to protect and enhance the integrity and resilience of the environmental values of the Hawkesbury River, Brisbane Water and Pittwater estuaries, including healthy, diverse aquatic ecosystems.
• to maintain and protect water quality across the system and its impacts on environmental, social and economic values - including ecological condition, recreational amenity and agricultural uses;
• to maintain and preserve the unique scenic amenity and natural character of the Hawkesbury River, Brisbane Water and Pittwater estuaries;
• to support the social and cultural values of the system and maintain public access and recreational amenity;
• to maintain the health, safety and wellbeing of those using the coastal zone (both directly and indirectly) - and to protect the health of human consumers of aquatic foods;
• to acknowledge Aboriginal peoples’ spiritual, social, customary and economic use of the Hawkesbury and to protect local indigenous cultural heritage;
• to recognise the coastal zone as a vital economic zone and to support sustainable coastal economies such as recreational fishing, aquaculture and tourism;
• to facilitate appropriate management of the coastal zone through ecologically sustainable development, and the promotion of sustainable land use planning and decision-making that is consistent with regional and local strategic plans;
• to mitigate current and future risks from population growth, urbanisation and coastal hazards (erosion and inundation of foreshores caused by tidal waters and the action of waves, including the interaction of those waters with catchment flooding);
• to ensure co-ordination between relevant government and public authorities relating to the river system - and to facilitate the proper integration of management activities across all levels of government;
• to maintain meaningful engagement with the community, and to support public participation in coastal management and planning, and to create greater public awareness, education and understanding of coastal processes and management actions;
• to encourage and facilitate research and monitoring – and to maintain the scientific and educational values of the river system;
• to support the objects of the Marine Estate Management Act 2014; and
• to align with the NSW Risk-based Framework for Considering Waterway Health Outcomes in Strategic Land-use Planning Decisions.

There are 6 councils with management jurisdiction over the tidal reaches of the Hawkesbury-Nepean River System:

• Central Coast Council
• Northern Beaches Council
• Ku-ring-gai Council
• Hornsby Shire Council
• The Hills Shire Council
• Hawkesbury City Council.

The CMP will be delivered by the project steering committee which consists of representatives from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and the Environment and from each of the 6 partner councils.

A website which collates the information from all 6 partnering councils has been developed and is available here.

There is the Pittwater Waterway Strategy, as well as the Pittwater Estuary Management Plan. See the Document Library section of this project page.