Environmental protection

Environment of the Kiama Municipality

The Municipality of Kiama has a diverse range of physical environments, including beaches, rainforests and rural landscapes which make it a beautiful place to live or work and attracts a large tourist base each year. This section includes the main environmental issues in the Kiama Municipality and outlines recent projects and/or policies to address these issues.

The key issues that Environmental Services considers include:

Water

The Kiama Municipality has a number of river and creek systems that are part of large catchments, such as the Macquarie Rivulet, Minnamurra River, Werri Lagoon, Crooked River and Shoalhaven River catchments, as well as numerous small streams draining directly to the ocean.

Air Quality and Energy Conservation

The air quality in the Kiama Municipality is affected by local, regional and global sources and is therefore an issue that crosses local Council boundaries. Poor air quality can impact on our health and the environment.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variety of all life forms - the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystems of which they from a part.

Land

Kiama Local Environmental Plan (LEP) 1996 is the main instrument used by Council for land-use planning and development decisions.

Waste

Waste minimisation, recycling of waste resources and waste management is an essential and integral part of Environmental Services.

Sustainable Communities

Sustainability is often used as a substitute for the term Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD), which involves the effective integration of economic, social and environmental considerations in decision-making processes.

State of the Environment Report

A State of the Environment Report for the Kiama Municipality is prepared for each financial year as a statutory requirement of the Local Government Act 1993. The report details the condition of, and pressures on, the local environment and outlines the current and potential future responses to the identified issues.

Sustainable Living Fact Sheets

Council produces fact sheets focusing on the current issues in the areas of environment, waste minimisation and health.