The Department of Planning provides support to Local Government to enable evidence-based planning decisions. Biodiversity and Conservation Division collaborated with Cessnock City Council in 2021-2022 to deliver environmental map layers (Environmental Lands Study) that facilitate council’s review of their Local Environment Plan. This dataset is one of those and provides a scientifically valid structural connectivity analysis for the 196,468-hectare Cessnock Local Government Area (LGA) at fine/local scale using evidence-based data. The connectivity analysis was conducted at multiple raster scales then combined into a final vector format with accuracy commensurate to a scale range of 1:500 to 1:1000. This connectivity analysis is one aspect of biodiversity information that maps the current state of biodiversity movement at a scale that can inform local planning decisions. This dataset was derived using the Spatial Links analysis tool described in the mapping of habitat linkages study by M. Drielsma et al. (2007) because it overcomes some of the limitations of GAP CLoSR. The Spatial Links tool does not require nodes for patches because it can assess each cell in a patch as a start/endpoint. Additionally, Spatial Links overcomes any limitations of addressing the infinitely variable and complex spatial configuration of any landscape. A more detailed examination of the Spatial Links methodology compared to other analytical techniques is discussed in the detailed studies of connectivity for planning by M. J. Drielsma et al. (2022). This study adopted the 106 m gap-crossing threshold and overcame the singular 1100m maximum dispersal threshold by applying multiple scales that addressed a range of dispersal distances to cater for varying ecological traits of fauna and flora. The final dataset results from the Spatial Links analysis at fine scale across the Cessnock LGA buffered by 1km to avoid any abrupt termination of connectivity at the edges of the LGA.

A Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan (FRMS&P) for the Beverley Park catchment has been prepared by Cardno Lawson Treloar for Kogarah Council. The FRMS&P identify and examine options for the management of flooding within the Beverley Park catchment floodplain and is prepared in accordance with the NSW Government Floodplain Development Manual (2005). A locality plan can be found in Figure 1.1. The outline of the study area can be found in Figure 1.2. Study Context This study consists of the two stages of the multiple stages of the Floodplain Management process which includes:,

This shapefile describes the outputs from the application of a decision support tool (Rohweder and others 2015) used to assist the Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District make thoughtful and strategic choices about where to spend its limited management resources. It incorporates landscape and management unit features to identify which Waterfowl Production Areas have the greatest biological potential with respect to priority resources and habitats. The district can use this information to prioritize and target management, which will help with development of annual habitat plans. This shapefile contains the relevant input criteria attributes used in the development of station objective models.

This dataset was developed (pursuant to Planning Scheme Amendment C46) for the Casey Planning Scheme at Clause 22.18 - Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Policy (now superseded). Under this policy, a Cultural Heritage Management Plan was required where land within the municipality of Casey is within 100m of present or former natural creek, river, lake, swamp, or marsh.