Plans of Management for Crown Land

North Sydney has over 30 Crown reserves which are owned by the NSW Government and managed by Council.

Enacted in July 2018, The Crown Land Management Act 2016 (CLM Act) imposes various obligations on Councils, including that Councils adopt PoMs for all Crown reserves for which they are the appointed Crown land manager and that are classified as community land under the Local Government Act 1993.

The CLM Act renders all NSW Council’s current PoMs which incorporate Crown land non-compliant.

To meet our obligations, we are preparing a new suite of PoMs that address relevant Crown reserves. Some of the required PoMs will be entirely new; while others will replace existing Council PoMs. Some PoMs will cover multiple open space areas; others will address just one park or reserve.

The following parks and reserves in North Sydney are (partly or wholly) Crown land and are affected by the requirements of the CLM Act:

Anderson Park, Anzac Park, Balls Head Reserve, Blues Point Reserve, Brennan Park, Cammeray Park, Carradah Park, Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability, Cremorne Reserve, Green Park, Miss Gladys Carey Reserve, Olympic Pool Foreshore, Primrose Park, St Leonards Park, Tunks Park, Warringa Park, Waverton Park and West Crescent Street Reserve.

Parks and Reserves Map (1MB)

New PoMs are required to replace the following existing PoMs:

Neighbourhood Parks Bushland Sportsgrounds Playgrounds Foreshore Parks & Reserves St Leonards Park excluding the North Sydney Oval Complex Cremorne Reserve

Entirely new PoMs are required for some areas of Crown land currently included in generic PoMs:

Waverton Peninsula Sites (comprising Carradah Park and the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability) We are awaiting formal advice from the Department regarding the need to prepare a significant area Plan of Management for one additional site

Of Council’s existing suite of PoMs, only three are unaffected, as they contain no relevant parcels of Crown land, these are St Thomas’ Rest Park, Bradfield Park and the North Sydney Oval PoM.

 

Timeframe and Implications for Council

Completion of compliant PoMs addressing Crown land is required by 30 June 2021. However, this deadline is currently being reviewed by the department as the workload and complexities involved in preparing the new PoMs (for both Councils and the department) are proving to be significantly greater than anticipated. The department is yet to commit to a timeframe for reviewing draft PoMs, a process that must occur before Council can commence public exhibition.

As a result of the new work needed to meet the requirements of the CLM Act, North Sydney’s existing program of reviewing and updating all PoMs every 5-6 years has been significantly disrupted. It is likely that several existing significant area PoMs will now be incorporated into generic PoMs, at least in the short term, to streamline the new suite of documents.

Project Process for new Crown land PoMs

Step 1

New draft PoMs that comply with the requirements of the CLM Act are prepared to either:

replace a current PoM, or address a specific area of land currently included in one of Council’s generic PoMs.

The draft PoMs must incorporate advice from Council’s nominated Native Title Manager.

Step 2

Council resolves to refer the new draft PoM to the department administering the CLM Act (the landowner) attesting it has considered Native Title Manager advice and seeking permission to publicly exhibit the draft PoM.

Step 3

The department reviews the draft PoM and advises Council of any properly required provisions to include in the draft PoM prior to public exhibition.

Step 4

Council makes the required amendments and the draft PoM is publicly exhibited for at least 42 days.

Step 5

Community feedback is received and reported to Council for consideration.

If Council considers the feedback warrants only minor amendments being made, the PoM may be adopted by Council. If Council considers the feedback warrants substantive changes, the amended draft PoM must be resubmitted to the department and again placed on public exhibition, prior to adoption by Council. 

 

Keeping the Community Informed

When we are preparing a completely new PoM (rather than replacing an existing PoM), we will employ an online survey to find out:

how people use the park what issues need addressing, and opportunities for further enhancement.

The information gathered from the survey will inform the draft PoM.

When each new draft PoM is complete, public exhibition will occur and community comment will be sought. All feedback will be reported to Council and appropriate amendments based on this feedback will be made prior to adopting the final PoM.

Have Your Say

We have created this project page on our Yoursay website to enable our community to:

learn how Council is managing Crown lands stay up to date with our progress, find answers to FAQ’s, and share their views on the new draft PoMs as they are prepared

The Yoursay webpage will be updated regularly with key dates and other information as this project progresses - please visit it.

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