Wollongong City Council Media Release, Tuesday, 27 May 2025
It may sound like something from Lord of the Rings, but a Riparian Corridor is something you’ve probably seen much closer to home.
A Riparian Corridor is the strip of land alongside a river, creek, or waterway, including the waterway itself. It also includes the surrounding vegetation – riparian buffers – that help stabilise riverbanks against erosion and slow down flooding.
They also protect water quality through filtering pollutants and runoff, provide habitat for native plants and wildlife, and produce an urban cooling effect.
In areas undertaking rapid growth and development, like the West Dapto Urban Release Area (WDURA), it’s vitally important to manage these areas in a way that allows for safe, sustainable development, while ensuring natural environments and waterways are protected.
Council’s current approach to managing riparian corridors is outlined in our Riparian Corridor Management Study (RCMS) for the Wollongong Local Government Area (LGA), which was developed in 2004.
Further guidance on managing riparian corridors is outlined within Chapter E23 of the Wollongong Development Control Plan (DCP) for the Wollongong LGA, which was developed in 2009.
Much has changed in the decades since, including significant urban growth, new environmental challenges, and developments in best-practice approaches to waterway protection.
A review of the Strategy to consider these changes and how they relate to the WDURA is now underway and will consider various factors to ensure development is responsibly managed to allow the best outcomes for residents, landowners and the environment.
“The West Dapto Urban Release Area is vital to the present and future housing needs of our growing population,” Lord Mayor of Wollongong Councillor Tania Brown said.
“It requires significant development, but we must make sure this occurs in a measured and sustainable way that can ensure the immediate and long-term best interest of residents and landowners, without compromising natural environments and the waterways that are their lifeblood.
“The review of this Study with focus on the West Dapto Urban Release Area is hugely important to ensure we have an accurate picture of our waterways, and that our approach to managing them aligns with current conditions that have no doubt changed dramatically over time.”
The review has multiple aims, including:
- Update watercourse mapping and riparian buffer classifications.
- Clarify landowner responsibilities in managing riparian areas.
- Improve guidelines to help balance property management with waterway protection.
- Address challenges in applying the 2004 study to the current conditions and consider possible solutions.
These updates may affect how waterways on or near people's property are classified and managed, but it will not introduce new zoning restrictions beyond riparian areas or affect existing approved developments that meet current regulations.
Council is seeking community feedback to help us ensure riparian corridors in West Dapto are accurately mapped, what challenges landowners and developers have faced, and whether the existing or proposed riparian buffer rules are workable in practice.
We’re keen to understand what needs improvement, and how responsibilities for managing these areas should be shared between landowners, Council, and developers.
The Riparian Corridor Management Strategy for the West Dapto Urban Release Area is now open for community feedback. To make an informed submission, people are encouraged to read the full report and view all the maps and diagrams available on Council’s website.
There are a number of ways you can provide feedback, including:
- Visit Our Wollongong: https://our.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/caring-for-waterways-in-west-dapto
- Ask a question in the Q&A: https://our.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/caring-for-waterways-in-west-dapto?preview=true&tool=qanda#tool_tab
- Complete the survey: https://our.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/caring-for-waterways-in-west-dapto?tool=survey_tool&tool_id=survey#tool_tab
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- If you prefer, you can visit Dapto Library to view the report, maps and diagrams, complete the printed survey, and return it to us (reply-paid envelopes available).
- Send written feedback via email to engagement@wollongong.nsw.gov.au
Share your feedback with us by Thursday 19 June 2025. Submissions become public documents and may be viewed by other persons on request. Please read Council’s Privacy Notification before submitting your feedback.
