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 delineates woody vegetation at fine scale across the 196,468-hectare Cessnock Local Government Area (LGA). All tenures were mapped excluding National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) estate because they are formally reserved and protected under Local Environment Plans and were outside of the scope of the Environmental Lands Study. Data is in vector format and was produced to a scale range of 1:500 – 1:3000 and captures individual trees or shrubs with diameters down to 3m whilst excluding and eliminating shadow effects. The dataset is an accurate fine-scale baseline woody dataset for the Cessnock LGA that is current with the image dates of 2017-19 in the east and 2011 for a small area in the far west. From here on the layer will require maintenance and updating as landuse and landcover changes over time. However, the layer’s accuracy means that maintenance and update requirements are minimal in terms of mapping expertise and resources. Either field verified data or newer high-resolution imagery can be used to perform maintenance and updating of the layer.

This single layer captures critical environmental features and biodiversity persistence for Cessnock Local Government Area (LGA) which covers 196,468 ha. The layer is in raster format with a 2 × 2 m cell size and is the result of consolidating layers that capture all aspects of biodiversity. Those consolidated layers contributed species composition information, structure/condition of habitat, and ecological function attributes at the same scale and with a common scoring. The common scale and scoring system allowed for direct comparison, making it possible to combine them into one single environment layer using a peer-reviewed scientific methodology.

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 maps all streambanks of larger streams in the 196,468-hectare Cessnock Local Government Area using the Strahler system to identify stream type. All tenures were mapped excluding National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) estate because they are formally reserved and protected under Local Environment Plans and were outside of the scope of the Environmental Lands Study. Data is in vector format and was produced to a scale range of 1:500 – 1:3000. The process for delineating streambanks for the Cessnock LGA began by mapping stream order, then adding LiDAR and NearMap imagery as a basemap. The technique of hillshading was then used to show the streambank top edge and topographic features of streambanks. All streams higher than 2nd order were buffered by 100m to create the area of interest (AoI) for mapping streambanks. High resolution Light (or Laser) Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) was converted to a hillshade to facilitate the delineation of 3rd order and above streambanks. Streambanks were mapped at a scale of 1:3,000 as lines using a pen graphic tablet and the dataset saved to a file geodatabase.

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 maps all streambanks of larger streams in the 196,468-hectare Cessnock Local Government Area using the Strahler system to identify stream type. All tenures were mapped excluding National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) estate because they are formally reserved and protected under Local Environment Plans and were outside of the scope of the Environmental Lands Study. Data is in vector format and was produced to a scale range of 1:500 – 1:3000. The process for delineating streambanks for the Cessnock LGA began by mapping stream order, then adding LiDAR and NearMap imagery as a basemap. The technique of hillshading was then used to show the streambank top edge and topographic features of streambanks. All streams higher than 2nd order were buffered by 100m to create the area of interest (AoI) for mapping streambanks. High resolution Light (or Laser) Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) was converted to a hillshade to facilitate the delineation of 3rd order and above streambanks. Streambanks were mapped at a scale of 1:3,000 as lines using a pen graphic tablet and the dataset saved to a file geodatabase. Streambanks were then buffered by 40m (as required by the Water Management Act 2000) and any areas where streambanks where more than 80m apart were eliminated.

Maitland City Council(MCC)Vegetation Mapping by Lisa Hill in 2003. Vegetation distribution map for lands within the extent of the local government area, excluding those contained within National Park or State Forest Reserves. Systematic vegetation survey was carried out in Maitland LGA to provide Maitland Council with detailed information on natural vegetation for strategic planning purposes. Flora was sampled at 55 field sites (plots) and extensive field reconnaissance was carried out across the LGA. Agglomerative cluster analysis of plot data delineated eleven vegetation communities and an additional two communities were described by previous work in the LGA work (NPWS 2000). A total of 8,305 ha of extant vegetation was mapped in Maitland LGA using aerial photograph interpretation (API) at 1:25,000 scale. This included thirteen vegetation communities and areas of scattered trees and regeneration that did not constitute intact communities. Much of the vegetation in the LGA has affiliation with vegetation in the central, lower and mid Hunter valley, with areas in the south-east of the LGA more related to coastal vegetation in the lower Hunter-Central Coast Region. VIS_ID 444