Principles
The Greens NSW believe:
1. The New South Wales coastal zone is a significant and vulnerable natural asset, which must be protected through ecologically sustainable planning and management, the allocation of dedicated resources and a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system
2. The consequences of global climate change must be recognised and incorporated into all decisions relating to the coastal zone
3. Development, planning and policy decisions for the NSW coastal zone needs to be evidence-based and aimed at conserving and repairing naturally dynamic ecosystems, creating sustainable coastal communities and must include strategic and regional adaptation measures
4. In the significance and importance of First Nations’ connection and involvement in the management of coastal resources and, respect for native title rights
5. Co-operative arrangements among all levels of government, community and industry are needed to address coastal vulnerability and ensure the ecological sustainability of the coastal environment
6. A whole-of-catchment management approach must be used to ensure that threats to the coastal zone are avoided or effectively mitigated
7. Development of disaster adaptation plans for the coastal zone must be based on a whole of catchment approach
8. The involvement of community groups, including First Nations, vulnerable communities, and environmental groups in coastal zone planning, management, disaster adaptation, monitoring and evaluation is essential for successful implementation
9. That tourism in the coastal zone should be ecologically and socially sustainable and culturally informed by local First Nations communities
10. All pollution that threatens the environmental integrity of coastal zones and the welfare of communities and industries that rely on healthy ecosystems, is unacceptable
11. Substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are urgently needed to mitigate the risks to coastal communities and the natural environment
12. Councils required to prepare a coastal management plan must be provided with government funding and resources to develop and implement their respective Coastal Management Programs in line with their obligations under the Coastal Management Act 2016
13. Coastal local government areas identified at high risk in the State Disaster Mitigation Plan must be provided with the resources to implement measures to mitigate and adapt to the impact of hazards caused by climate change
14. Supporting measures and means to return identified coastal and estuarine lands from private ownership to public space will improve community amenity and the environmental resilience of land in the coastal zone
15. Vehicles other than emergency vehicles must be restricted and eventually phased out on beaches, coastal dunes, tidal salt marshes, intertidal areas and surrounding lands including undeveloped headlands
Aims
The Greens NSW will work towards:
16. The most effective coastal zone planning and management measures to protect the natural, cultural and social values of the coastal zone
17. Protecting the coastal zone based on scientific research and ensuring consultation with First Nations and environmental groups
18. The creation of a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system for the coastal zone, including no-take sanctuary zones
19. A moratorium on development of the coastal zone in areas with ecosystems likely to be required for a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system
20. Ensuring that coastal zone planning and management policies are reviewed in light of the progression of climate change impacts
21. Community education and awareness-raising programs that highlight the impacts of human use on the coastal zone and contemporary management strategies to address these impacts
22. Government funding for improved approaches to address waste and discharge accumulation in the Coastal Zone to be developed with the involvement of all key stakeholders
23. Increasing the funding of the Coastal Lands Protection Scheme for the continued public acquisition of significant coastal lands currently in private ownership
24. Ensuring that coastal public lands are maintained as community assets and managed effectively in accordance with adopted nature positive plans of management
25. Reviewing the risks to public infrastructure and private development and developing long term managed retreat, relocation and adaptation strategies to protect these against the impacts of climate change
26. Ensuring that development in coastal zone urban areas is consistent with Ecologically Sustainable Design principles and takes into account historical worst-case scenarios
27. Promoting legislative review and clarity regarding the ownership of beaches as sea level rise and coastal erosion occur, particularly where private property has suffered erosion and is adjacent to council or Crown land
28. Ensuring that coastal protection and development works are consistent with evidence-based scientific advice and best practice engineering standards to minimise negative impact on amenity, other properties or the natural environment
29. Developing and implementing planning controls that include buffer zones to protect foreshores and allow for coastal retreat as a result of predicted sea-level rise
30. Using science-based planning to identify areas for retreat, applying the principles of climate justice and equitably supporting the wider community
31. Minimising night-time light pollution in the Coastal Zone, in line with current Australian Standards, to avoid impacts on native wildlife
32. Mandating best-practice Water Sensitive Urban Design principles in all Coastal Zone developments
33. Restricting licensing and strengthening compliance to stop industrial, agricultural and domestic untreated discharges from entering water bodies
Estuaries, Intermittently Closed and Open Lakes and Lagoons (ICOLLS) and coastal wetlands
34. Ensuring that ecologically sustainable catchment management solutions and plans are developed and implemented to protect coastal estuaries
35. Ensuring the protection and improvement of water quality in the coastal zone, through education, legislation and systematic monitoring and public reporting
36. Funding the development and implementation recovery plans for all degraded estuarine environments
37. Ensuring appropriate acid-sulphate soils management
38. An immediate moratorium on clearing native vegetation within the coastal zone
39. Funding initiatives for the regeneration, rehabilitation and ongoing management of native vegetation in the coastal zone to improve biodiversity habitat values, amenity, and dune and foreshore stability
40. Not approving any new mineral sand mining developments in the coastal zone except for the purpose of rehabilitation
41. Consulting with communities affected by sand mining developments and compensating them for the impacts on amenity
42. Requiring restoration of all coastal zone areas impacted by mining to be reinstated with biodiverse local vegetation
43. Ensuring there is research across all parts of the Coastal Zone into the environmental and cumulative impact of sand mining/extraction and dredging, both onshore and offshore, and including for beach nourishment
44. Phasing-out sand extraction in the coastal zone adjacent to national parks and other protected areas
45. Supporting research into alternatives for primary extracted sand in building and other products
48. Ensuring that a register of radioactive tailings sites is maintained to safeguard against the hazards of radioactive sand contamination
46. The restriction of high-impact recreational activity in the coast zone
47. Restricting and eventual phasing out vehicles on beaches, dunes and undeveloped headlands, other than emergency and authorised management vehicles
48. Banning the use of jet-skis and high powered motor boats in sensitive areas of the coastal zone, where there are detrimental impacts on the environment or social amenity
49. No new estuarine moorings/marinas, the replacement of all environmentally damaging moorings with moorings that minimise contact with the seafloor, and the selective closure of existing mooring precincts and marinas that damage or threaten estuarine ecosystems or low-impact recreational amenity
50. Adequately funding the enforcement of boating and fishing regulations
51. Extending the restriction zones for recreational fishing to end the use of environmentally damaging practices
52. A moratorium on beach-haul fishing where it has long term negative impacts on fish species populations
Related policies
- Planning and Infrastructure
- Tourism and Visitors
- Marine Environment
- Wetlands
- Biodiversity
- National Parks and Wilderness
- Climate Action and Renewable Energy
- Bushfire Risk Management
Definitions
The NSW ‘coastal zone’ is defined as:
- 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; and
- tidal waters of coastal rivers to the limit of mangroves, or the tidal limit, whichever is closer to the sea.
[An estuary is defined as a partially enclosed coastal body of water that is a place of transition from saltwater to freshwater, from tidal to non-tidal, and from wet to dry.]
Ecologically sustainable development (ESD) is an important concept in environmental law
ESD is a long-standing and internationally recognised concept. The concept has been affirmed by the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development and has been included in over 60 pieces of NSW legislation.
Australia’s National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (1992) defines ecologically sustainable development as: ‘using, conserving and enhancing the community’s resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased.’
ESD is also defined in the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991 (NSW) and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), and is referred to in many other environmental laws.
ESD requires the effective integration of economic, environmental, social and equity considerations in decision-making processes. ESD aims to provide for the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
The Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991 (NSW) defines the principles of ESD:
1. The precautionary principle
If there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. Public and private decisions should be guided by careful evaluation to avoid serious or irreversible damage to the environment wherever practicable, and an assessment of the risk-weighted consequences of various options.
2. Inter-generational equity
The present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment are maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations,
3. Conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity
Conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity should be a fundamental consideration in environmental planning and decision-making processes. Biodiversity refers to the variety of all life. Environmental and species impact statements are one way that this principle is enacted.
4. Improved valuation, pricing and incentive mechanisms
Environmental factors should be included in the valuation of assets and services, such as:
- Polluter pays – those who generate pollution and waste should bear the cost of containment, avoidance or abatement,
- The users of goods and services should pay prices based on the full life cycle of costs of providing goods and services, including the use of natural resources and assets and the ultimate disposal of any waste,
- Environmental goals, having been established, should be pursued in the most cost effective way, by establishing incentive structures, including market mechanisms, that enable those best placed to maximise benefits or minimise costs to develop their own solutions and responses to environmental problems.
These principles are implemented at the State level through a number of decision-making processes, including the regulation of pollution, and development assessment and approval regimes.
For more information about how the principles of ESD are implemented at the national level, visit the Australian Environment Department.
Source: Environmental Defenders Office - https://www.edo.org.au/publication/what-is-ecologically-sustainable-development/
Last revised February 2026.