Coffs Harbour’s ground-breaking Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Management Plan has been refined to enable a more balanced approach to assessing development proposals, after Council endorsed a revised version at its meeting on 23 July.
The plan, developed by the City of Coffs Harbour in partnership with the local Aboriginal community, was first adopted in 2024 to inform development and protect Coffs Harbour’s Aboriginal cultural heritage. After feedback from the community and stakeholders, an amended version was placed on public exhibition late last year before the revised document was endorsed by Council.
Mayor Nikki Williams said city staff had worked closely with the Coffs Harbour and District Local Aboriginal Land Council and Gumbaynggirr Cultural Knowledge Holders throughout the process.
“City staff have been working with the Coffs Harbour and District Local Aboriginal Land Council and Gumbaynggirr Cultural Knowledge Holders to ensure the plan is appropriate for what it is designed to achieve,” Mayor Williams said.
“The upshot is some minor changes so that low risk development, and development where extensive assessment of any cultural heritage has already been undertaken, sits to the side of the plan.”
The key changes create exceptions for development where no ground disturbance is proposed, development where a comprehensive cultural heritage assessment has already been undertaken as part of a previous development application or local environmental plan amendment, and low-impact development in existing developed urban areas where no cultural heritage is identified within the site’s boundaries.
City Planning and Communities Director Ian Fitzgibbon said that where a comprehensive cultural heritage assessment had already been carried out, a complying development pathway would now be enabled.
“The original plan was a large body of work, providing a robust framework to protect local Aboriginal cultural heritage. The fine-tuning of that plan, after additional feedback from industry, has resulted in a more practical instrument,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.
“It’s expected the amended plan will reduce the number of applications which need to be referred to the Coffs Harbour and District Local Aboriginal Land Council.”
“The plan is supported by an online cultural heritage map which has been developed by the State Government, and the community can readily access this on the City’s website.”
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