Local Councils in New South Wales engage in the Coastal Management Program process with the financial and technical assistance of the NSW Government’s Coastal and Estuary Grants Program to help manage the coastal zone. Over $83 million has been invested to support coastal and estuary planning projects and implement the works recommended by certified Coastal Management Programs.

The coastal management program (CMP) process is designed to identify key management issues and the strategic and integrated actions that are required to address these issues. A CMP also involves consultation with communities and the relevant public authorities.

The overarching aims of the program are to:
• Manage risks from coastal hazards, such as coastal erosion
• Restore degraded coastal habitats
• Improve the health of the estuaries, wetlands and littoral rainforests across New South Wales.

The CMP process is divided into five stages. Each stage contributes to producing a detailed coastal management program that identifies the management issues and outlines the actions to be implemented by the council or public authorities upon the certification of the CMP.

Alluvium has been engaged by Ballina Shire Council, Bellingen Shire Council and Georges Riverkeeper (includes the Wollondilly, Wollongong, Campbelltown, Liverpool, Fairfield, Blacktown, Cumberland, Canterbury-Bankstown, Georges River, Sutherland and Bayside Councils) to undertake the Stage 1 scoping study for the respective study areas.