Plans of Management are strategic documents that guide the use, development and management of public open space owned by Council or under Council’s control. They identify land management issues, sets out objectives, identify and prioritise required works and actions and nominate performance indicators. 

Plans of Management may be either significant area (prepared for some of our most significant individual parks) or generic (incorporating various parks and reserves with similar characteristics and/or uses).

See Council's website for all current Plans of Management .

Crown land is land owned by the NSW Government that has been reserved from private sale for a variety of purposes including public recreation and environmental purposes.

As a direct result of the new Crown Land Management Act 2016 (CLM Act) coming into force in July 2018.

While the Local Government Act 1993 (LG Act) requires NSW councils to prepare Plans of Management for all Council-owned public land classified as community land, prior to the implementation of the CLM Act councils were generally not required to prepare Plans of Management for Crown Land. However, like many other councils, North Sydney included areas of Crown land in their Plans of Management to enable holistic management of all public open space.

The CLM Act introduces specific new requirements which render all NSW council’s current Plans of Management prepared under the LG Act and which incorporate Crown land non-compliant. 

The following parks and reserves are (partly or wholly) Crown land and are affected by the requirements of the CLM Act:

Anderson Park, Anzac Park,Balls Head Reserve, Blues Point Reserve, Brennan Park, Cammeray Park, Carradah Park, Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability, Cremorne Reserve, Olympic Pool Foreshore, Green Park, Miss Gladys Carey Reserve, Primrose Park, St Leonards Park, Tunks Park, Warringa Park, Waverton Park and West Crescent Street Reserve.

Of Council’s existing suite of Plans of Management, only three do not require amending - there are no relevant parcels of Crown land in St Thomas’ Rest Park, Bradfield Park or at the North Sydney Oval complex.

In order to comply with the requirements of the CLM Act, seven of our existing Plans of Management must be amended. This involves preparing a new Plan of Management (PoM) to replace the following current Plans:

• Neighbourhood Parks (generic PoM)
• Bushland (generic PoM)
• Sportsgrounds (generic PoM)
• Playgrounds (generic PoM)
• Foreshore Parks & Reserves (generic PoM)
• St Leonards Park excluding the North Sydney Oval Complex (significant area PoM)
• Cremorne Reserve (significant area PoM)

In addition, completely new Plans of Management are required for areas of public land currently included in generic Plans of Management:

• Waverton Peninsula Sites (comprising Carradah Park and the Coal Loader Centre for Sustainability)
• Note: await formal advice from the Department administering the Crown Land Management Act1 regarding the need to prepare a significant area Plan of Management for one additional site

As a result of the amount of work that the CLM Act requires all council’s to undertake in a short space of time, our existing program of reviewing and updating all Plans of Management every 5-6 years has been significantly disrupted. It is likely that several existing significant area Plans of Management will now be incorporated into generic Plans to streamline the new suite of Plans.

^{1.as at February 2020 this is the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.}

This project relates to the management of certain Crown land reserves only.

While the amended generic Plans of Management will continue to include both Crown and Council-owned land, significant area parks and reserves in North Sydney that are comprised of Council-owned land or are partially owned by other authorities (Bradfield Park, St Thomas’ Rest Park and the North Sydney Oval complex) are not included in this project.

See Council's website for all current Plans of Management.

Completion of compliant Plans of Management dealing with Crown land is required by 30 June 2021. Note: this deadline is currently being reviewed by the Department administering the Crown Land Management Act1 as the complexities involved in preparing the new Plans in accordance with the CLM Act (for both councils and the Department1) are significantly greater than was anticipated.

1at time publication this is the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment

The community engagement process will vary according to whether the Plan of Management is ‘amended’ or ‘new’.

 1. Amended Plans of Management (Significant area and generic Plans of Management prepared to replace current Plans rendered non-compliant by the CLM Act)

• Following the Minister’s1 approval to publicly exhibit the draft Plan of Management, public exhibition will take place and community comment will be sought. Suggested amendments as a result of this feedback will be reported to Council prior to Council endorsing the Plan of Management.

2. New Plans of Management (Significant area Plans of Management prepared for areas previously incorporated into generic Plans of Management as required by the CLM Act)

• A survey will ask for community input on subjects including:
  • how you currently use the park/reserve
  • what issues need to be addressed
  • opportunities to further enhance the park/reserve

Information gained from the survey will inform preparation of the draft Plan of Management.

Following the Minister’s1 approval to publicly exhibit the draft Plan of Management, public exhibition will take place and community comment will be sought. Suggested amendments as a result of this feedback will be reported to Council prior to Council endorsing the Plan of Management.

^{1 as at February 2020, this is NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces}

Provide your details on the online form and you will be added to our ‘keep informed’ list. We will keep this page updated with information such as key dates, news articles and links to the draft Plans of Management.