Raw links

ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT ACT 1979 - HAWKESBURY LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 1989 - Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001) - 22 Dec 1989

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/231918425?searchTerm=%22mcgraths%20hill%22%2B%22flood%22

https://apps.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/.../DATA...

NOTE: THE ABOVE LINK OPENS STRAIGHT INTO A LOCAL PDF DOWNLOAD WHICH IS SAVED IN DOCUMENTS.

Baffled pilots say their helicopters were ‘not wanted’ by government during flood crisis

https://www.smh.com.au/.../baffled-pilots-say-their...

Flooded NSW communities call on government to fund more resilient roads

https://www.theguardian.com/.../it-makes-sense-to-improve...

Cost of evacuation routes in Sydney’s flood-prone north-west to top $900m

https://www.smh.com.au/.../cost-of-evacuation-routes-in...

$147K and 3 major floods later, still no Flood Risk Management Study from Hawkesbury Council

https://www.hawkesburypost.com.au/.../147k-and-3-major...

https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../state-emergency-management...

Flood Risk Management Manual update

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/.../flood-risk...

Floodplain Development Manual

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/.../floodplain...

Find your suburb’s risk of flooding

https://www.news.com.au/.../1750055b14d8b4f60cbb09b51960d54a

Minister's Planning Principles

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/.../Minister-planning...

EDIT 23/05/2026: FOUND LINK VIA WAYBACK

https://web.archive.org/web/20211202071251/https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/-/media/Files/DPE/Plans-and-policies/Policy-and-legislation/The-ministers-planning-principles-2021.pdf

Also printed as pdf and saved in Documents as “Ministers planning principals December 2001 via Wayback 23 may 2026

NSW abandons planning principles

https://www.australianpropertyjournal.com.au/.../nsw.../

Money might save your property, but who wants to live in a country where the poor drown and the rich are saved? | Brigid Delaney

https://www.theguardian.com/.../money-might-save-your...

New flood funding package announced as Coalition dips into $4bn emergency fund

https://www.theguardian.com/.../new-flood-funding-package...

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/.../marsden-park-precinct...

https://udiansw.com.au/.../20200625-UDIA-NSW-Response...

St Marys 2041: St Marys Town Centre Structure Plan

https://yoursaypenrith.com.au/StMarys2041...

Appeal for urgent action from Colo Valley locals as full scope of flood damage to roads revealed

https://www.hawkesburypost.com.au/.../appeal-for-urgent...

Climate change spat splits Lismore council in flood aftermath

https://amp.theguardian.com/.../climate-change-spat...

https://www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/.../molino_stewart...

Details light on dam spends - FinanceCareer

http://www.financialservicescareer.com.au/.../details...

https://www.facebook.com/PeterPr.../posts/388397626436656...

It was Hawkesbury's second big flood in a row…some lessons to be learnt

https://www.hawkesburypost.com.au/.../hawkesbury-suffers...

As water levels rise so too does the pressure to stop building houses on flood plains

https://www.theguardian.com/.../as-water-levels-rise-so...

https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../emergency-management-subplan...

https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/.../plan-hawkesbury-city-local...

https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/.../plan-blacktown-lfp-nov...

https://nsw-coastal-explorer.domorewithmaps.com/.../HAWKE...

Targeted disaster mitigation - Australian Local Government Association

https://alga.com.au/targeted-disaster-mitigation-2/...

From response to resilience: How engineers can help in the wake of extreme floods - Create

https://createdigital.org.au/how-engineers-can-help-in.../

“Thirty years of hard work and effort” swept down the Hawkesbury and no-one seems able to help

https://www.hawkesburypost.com.au/.../thirty-years-of...

Floods and Flood-mindedness in Early Colonial Australia, Environmental History, 2016 21 (2): 315-342.

https://www.academia.edu/.../Floods_and_Flood_mindedness...

Invited perspectives: A research agenda towards disaster risk management pathways in multi-(hazard-)risk assessment

https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/22/1487/2022/

Beyond boundaries: Earth’s water cycle is being bent to breaking point

https://news.mongabay.com/.../beyond-boundaries.../...

Australia ‘ill-prepared’ for food insecurity driven by war and climate crisis, former defence leaders say

https://www.theguardian.com/.../australia-ill-prepared...

Explaining the ‘unusually extreme’ rain and weather that caused Sydney’s fourth major flood in two years

https://www.theguardian.com/.../why-is-sydney-flooding...

Warragamba Dam disaster warning: downpour now could 'devastate' western Sydney

https://www.smh.com.au/.../warragamba-dam-disaster...

‘Stark raving, barking mad’: experts question the building of homes below ‘worst-case’ flood levels in western Sydney

https://www.theguardian.com/.../stark-raving-barking-mad...

Home buybacks in flood-prone NSW ‘cheaper’ than plan to raise Warragamba Dam wall, experts say

https://www.theguardian.com/.../home-buybacks-in-flood...

Hawkesbury Council's 2021 submission to the dam wall raising EIS consultation.

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/.../Hawkesbury%20City...

Warragamba Dam not designed to be ‘flood mitigation dam’

https://www.skynews.com.au/.../cdf66f6357ec3445b5227bdd4f...

https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSI-8441%2120210917T063829.773%20GMT

UNABLE TO WAYBACK THE ABOVE LINK – SLOW SERVER RESPONSE. TRY AGAIN.

https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSI-8441%2120210917T063815.686%20GMT

UNABLE TO WAYBACK THE ABOVE LINK – SLOW SERVER RESPONSE. TRY AGAIN.

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/.../marsden-park...

https://www.tandfonline.com/.../13241583.2016.1145851...

Report paints catastrophic picture for NSW floodplains - Government News

https://www.governmentnews.com.au/report-paints.../

South Creek floodplain plan on show - Penrith City Council

https://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au/.../south-creek...

'Building too close to the water. It's ridiculous!' Talk of buyouts after floods shows need to get serious about climate adaptation

https://theconversation.com/building-too-close-to-the...

Blacktown Council Spatial Maps – Turn on Flood Risk layer

https://maps.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/...

Flood and wildfire risks: Translating risk ratings into future costs can help homebuyers and renters grasp the odds – and act on them

https://theconversation.com/flood-and-wildfire-risks...

Raising Warragamba Dam is not the best flood mitigation strategy, Premier - Pearls and Irritations

https://johnmenadue.com/raising-warragamba-dam-not-the.../

Note: Goal 28

https://www.ipc.nsw.gov.au/.../fil.../NSW2021_WEBVERSION.pdf

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/.../Report%20No%201%20...

Note: The first document mentioned was written in 2005 and yet massive amounts of new housing has been built in the North West Growth Centre. I hope this new 'toolkit' removes the gaming of the system currently possible.

INFRASTRUCTURE.NSW.GOV.AU

Infrastructure NSW : Publications and Resources

https://www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/.../publications.../

https://www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/.../flood-data-at...

What Are Multiform Floods? One More Thing to Worry about with Climate Changehttps://blog.ucsusa.org/.../what-are-multiform-floods.../

‘Expensive’ and ‘slow’ to raise Warragamba Dam wall

https://www.skynews.com.au/.../4c204d90b3d2fba13ca3ec5d48...

Weather events could spell flooding disaster for Australia's east coast

https://thenewdaily.com.au/.../la-nina-indian-ocean-dipole/

Volume 2: Key findings - 2022 Flood Inquiry

https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../VOLUME_TWO%20_Full%20report.pdf

Volume 3:

2022 Flood Inquiry Appendices - details.

https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../VOLUME_THREE_Appendices.pdf

Volume 1: Summary 2022 Flood Inquiry

https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../VOLUME_ONE_Summary_report.pdf

Government Response, 2022 Flood Inquiry:

https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../NSW_Government_Response_to_the...

Finally. Here’s what Anthony Roberts told the Urban Taskforce in his “secret speech”.

https://thefifthestate.com.au/.../finally-heres-what.../

The BOM has changed how the app forecasts rainfall and it has triggered a general wave of confusion

https://www.abc.net.au/.../bom-rainfall.../101279066

Greater Sydney Water Strategy - Water in New South Wales

https://www.industry.nsw.gov.au/.../metro-water-plans/gsws

https://water.dpie.nsw.gov.au/.../Kingspan-Coombes.pdf

River styles in NSW

https://water.dpie.nsw.gov.au/.../mon.../river-styles-in-nsw

Releases - Australian Associated Press

https://www.aap.com.au/releases/...

Sydney home owners fear premium hikes, hit to property values after shock flood rating

https://www.smh.com.au/.../sydney-home-owners-fear...

Impact of megafires on estuaries world-first study

https://www.sydney.edu.au/.../impact-of-megafires-on...

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/.../Warragamba%20Dam...

To Release or not to Release: What does the NSW Water Minister think of Warragamba? - ABC Sydney

https://www.abc.net.au/.../dam-dam-response.../101471070

Marker: 27th September 2022 - Warragamba at 98%. Despite months of advocacy from the Hawkesbury community, still no plans to lower the storage level of Warragamba before the next flood hits. The NSW Minister for Water, Kevin Anderson, says that if water is released prior to the next flood, then Sydney will be plunged immediately into drought. Which is stupid nonsense.

Council releases flood housing strategy — and it won't be cheap

https://www.abc.net.au/.../lismore-council.../101475594

Half of Western Sydney foodbowl land may have been lost to development in just 10 years

https://thefifthestate.com.au/.../half-of-western.../...

So you built, purchased or rent housing on flood prone land - what comes next beside an upgraded personal flood plan?

https://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/.../so-you-built...

https://www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/.../molino_stewart...

'Don't believe the hype': Ben Fordham weighs in on the 'damage control over Warragamba Dam' - Ben Fordham Live

https://omny.fm/.../dont-believe-the-hype-ben-fordham...

Liberal councilor blows up at her own party over Warragamba dam funding

https://www.2gb.com/liberal-councilor-blows-up-at-her.../

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/.../2020EF001884

Hawkesbury council facing $190m road repair bill as NSW road workers are stretched thin

https://www.abc.net.au/.../hawkesbury-city.../101551110...

Nicole is still cleaning her house with dirty water, months after floods hit the Hawkesbury

https://www.abc.net.au/.../hawkesbury-community.../101540984

NSW minister took just five days to agree to fast-track project to raise Warragamba Dam

https://www.theguardian.com/.../nsw-minister-took-just...

NSW flood crisis most expensive natural disaster on record Insurance Council declares, as PM visits affected town

https://www.abc.net.au/.../pm-albanese-visits.../101680934

Warragamba Dam: health department feared raising wall could harm Sydney’s drinking water

https://www.theguardian.com/.../warragamba-dam-health...

On 17 November 2022 the NSW Perrottet Government and the state parliament passed into law a bill which creates the NSW Reconstruction Authority - an authority that will allow government, industry, business & property developers to control &...

https://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/.../on-17-november...

The great deluge: Australia’s new era of unnatural disasters | Climate Council

https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/.../the-great-deluge.../

Climate Vulnerability Assessment - November 2022 | APRA

https://www.apra.gov.au/climate-vulnerability-assessment...

NSW government seeks to use national park management to offset Warragamba Dam wall project

https://www.theguardian.com/.../nsw-government-seeks-to...

South Creek flood vs Marsden Park mass housing development, March 2021. Flood height was 12.48m at Windsor. A 1:100 flood is 17.3m.

Tell me again how the Marsden Park estate is above the floods.

Seriously, someone needs to do time for this.

https://blacktownmemories.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/15719

Aerial view of flooding at South Creek Marsden Park, 2021

See the red arrow? That's the brand spanking new Clydesdale estate.

There's 109 lots just in the first few rows.

And further over into the estate, red arrows are houses, blue line shows where the 2021 flood got to.

These photos have come from Blacktown Council.

They know. And they're still allowing building to continue.

At a very conservative average of $750K per house on each of those 109 blocks directly in the firing line - you have $81,750,000 just on land/house alone. Add in fitout, contents, personal belongings, vehicles, cost of accommodation, inability to go to work, school etc - and what sort of budget blowing bill do we have?

So who's to blame?

Is it council?

Is it the people who have purchased these properties?

Is it the developers?

No.

It's the NSW government who have not only approved this bullshit, but actively pushed and promoted it.

How many taxpayer dollars have gone into providing infrastructure and services for this development as well?

This is utterly unacceptable and someone needs to be held to account.

These families wanted a slice of suburbia — it came with a catch

https://www.abc.net.au/.../why-nsw-election.../101970560

Sydney’s growing pains: land rezoning a potential billion-dollar deal for developers after local council sidelined

https://www.theguardian.com/.../sydneys-growing-pains...

When Robert moved next to a freeway, he worried about the noise. No-one told him to worry about the air. (Gee, thanks NSW Liberals, for not only building us a $157M bridge that floods, but for leaving those who live, work and visit Thompson Square, with a blanket of toxic particles forever.)

https://www.abc.net.au/.../air-pollution.../101678936

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/.../inquiry-details...

Flood Risk Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study from Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment

https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5338/10/2/26

Sensitivity Analysis of Modelled Flood Inundation Extents over Hawkesbury–Nepean Catchment

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/13/3/67

https://www.naturalhazards.com.au/.../Community...

Hmm. Safety reasons, but no details. There's nothing about safety reasons in the EIS or any other document I've seen. Will be interesting to see what comes of this.

Are there structural issues with Warragamba Dam that have not been disclosed?

Warragamba Dam walls may need to be raised for ‘safety reasons’ despite Labor’s vow to drop plan

https://www.theguardian.com/.../warragamba-dam-walls-may...

https://www.udiansw.com.au/.../UDIA-Greenfield-Report...

UNABLE TO WAYBACK THE ABOVE LINK.

Webinar: Community experiences of the 2022 eastern Australia floods

https://mailchi.mp/.../international-day-for-disaster...

Venecia Wilson

https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../Flood%20Evacuation%20Modelling...

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/.../west-schofields-flood...

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/.../west-schofields-state...

DA-23-00740

https://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/Have-Your.../DA-23-00740...

The plan to save our drinking water without flooding Sydney

https://www.smh.com.au/.../the-plan-to-save-our-drinking...

Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Flood Risk Management Strategy – resources

https://www.nsw.gov.au/.../hawkesbury-nepean.../resources...

Property values dropping for homes facing the greatest risk of bushfire, flooding

https://www.smh.com.au/.../property-values-dropping-for...

AJEM January 2024 - Descriptive epidemiological study assessing emergency department presentations associated with the Hawkesbury-Nepean flood plain | Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub

https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/.../ajem-january-2024.../

(PDF) Flood Risk Assessment and Mapping: A Case Study from Australia’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment

https://www.researchgate.net/.../367263242_Flood_Risk...

Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Flood Evacuation Road Resilience Program | Transport for NSW

https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/.../hawkesbury-nepean...

‘Forever chemicals’ across Sydney’s drinking water catchment

https://www.smh.com.au/.../forever-chemicals-across...

Conceptualising household flood preparedness: explaining attitudes, coping strategies, and information needs

https://novaprd-lb.newcastle.edu.au/.../Repo.../uon:54556...

Draft Hawkesbury Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2025

https://www.yourhawkesbury-yoursay.com.au/draft...

What Australia can learn from Spain's recent deadly floods

https://www.abc.net.au/.../how-spanish-floods.../104593016

We pay less for houses in one-in-100 year flood zones – but overlook risks of more devastating floods

https://theconversation.com/we-pay-less-for-houses-in-one...

Penrith Lakes - DA2 (DA86/2720) Modification 12 Penrith Lakes | Planning Portal - Department of Planning and Environment

https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/.../penrith-lakes...

https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/.../Presentation%20...

https://federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/.../land...

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/.../nlt-npa-review...

https://www.aph.gov.au/.../EstimatesQuestion-CommitteeId7...

Integrating housing policy, settlement planning and disaster management | AHURI

https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/435

Warragamba Dam Environmental Flows | Planning Portal - Department of Planning and Environment

https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/.../warragamba-dam...

Moorebank Voluntary Acquisition Scheme in Liverpool LGA- Purchase of 62 Rickard Road Chippinng Norton - NSW Flood Data Portal

https://flooddata.ses.nsw.gov.au/.../moorebank-voluntary...

I did an interesting overlay last night. Clydesdale Estate - using March 2022 Flood Imagery and a plan of lots from a sales web site. It might not be exact, but it's pretty close.

Note that the current minimum building floor height is 17.3m (1:100) and the March 2022 flood came to 13.8m - that's about 3.5m lower than the mandated building floor height.

Just marking it.

https://www.nema.gov.au/.../subdivision_guidelines.pdf

Australia's costliest disaster recovery program fails to deliver a single home

https://www.abc.net.au/.../resilient-auditor.../106699964...

NSW Auditor General’s report into the Lismore buyback scheme (TL:DR – it’s not good)

https://www.audit.nsw.gov.au/.../Tabling%20report%20...