77Development within the coastal zone

77 Development within the coastal zone

77 Development within the coastal zone

(1) The objectives of this clause are as follows—

(a) to provide for the protection of the coastal environment of the State for the benefit of both present and future generations through promoting the principles of ecologically sustainable development,

(b) to implement the principles in the NSW Coastal Policy, and in particular to—

(i) protect, enhance, maintain and restore the coastal environment, its associated ecosystems, ecological processes and biological diversity and its water quality, and

(ii) protect and preserve the natural, cultural, recreational and economic attributes of the NSW coast, and

(iii) provide opportunities for pedestrian public access to and along the coastal foreshore, and

(iv) recognise and accommodate coastal processes and climate change, and

(v) protect amenity and scenic quality, and

(vi) protect and preserve rock platforms, beach environments and beach amenity, and

(vii) protect and preserve native coastal vegetation, and

(viii) protect and preserve the marine environment, and

(ix) ensure that the type, bulk, scale and size of development is appropriate for the location and protects and improves the natural scenic quality of the surrounding area, and

(x) ensure that decisions in relation to new development consider the broader and cumulative impacts on the catchment, and

(xi) protect Aboriginal cultural places, values and customs, and

(xii) protect and preserve items of heritage, archaeological or historical significance.

(2) Development consent must not be granted to development on land that is wholly or partly within the coastal zone unless the consent authority has considered—

(a) existing public access to and along the coastal foreshore for pedestrians (including persons with a disability) with a view to—

(i) maintaining existing public access and, where possible, improving that access, and