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Location
Regional New South Wales (NSW)

Scope
Land use strategy

Collie Role
Strategic planning; strategic framework, future directions and study process facilitator.

Key Challenge
Identifying and understanding the regionally / locally resonant land use planning issues opportunities and requirements.

Awards
2009 Local Government Excellence in the Environment Awards - Local Government Excellence for municipalities with a population less than 20,000.

2009 Local Government Excellence in the Environment Awards
- Runner up Local Government Excellence for Environmental Sustainability.

Download
Cowra Brochure (PDF)

Cowra Land Use Strategy

Cowra Shire (the Shire) is located in the Lachlan Valley and sits in the heart of country New South Wales. The Shire is situated approximately 300 kilometres west of Sydney and covers an area of 2,800 square kilometres with a growing population of 13,000. This region supports strong agricultural and rural based industries including horticulture, aquaculture and viticulture. The major urban centre, Cowra Township, is a vibrant and expanding retail and commercial centre and acts as a sub regional service centre within the catchments of the larger regional centres of Orange and Bathurst.

The Project

Collie was appointed by the Cowra Shire Council to complete a Land Use Strategy (Strategy) in response to a planning reform initiative of the NSW Department of Planning. The Strategy forms part of a comprehensive process and provides the necessary strategic framework to guide the preparation of the new local environment plan (LEP) for Cowra Shire. The Strategy addresses critical land use planning issues affecting the Shire, including

• the impacts and implications of Cowra's future urban expansion - encompassing the residential, industrial and commercial sectors in the Cowra Township and the surrounding villages of Billimari, Darbys Falls, Gooloogong, Morongla, Noonbinna, Wattamondara, Woodstock and Wyangala;
• the competing needs at the rural / township interface - including future residential subdivision in rural areas, appropriate allocation of rural residential land, natural resource management and ecologically sustainable development.

The Strategy

• identifies key land use issues;
• identifies opportunities and constraints that will affect future development in the Shire and translates them into a landuse framework;
• incorporates measures to ensure future development in the Shire responds appropriately to the environment;
• develops a set of planning criteria that can be incorporated into the local environment plan;
• includes a series of framework plans to guide future development in Cowra Township, other villages throughout the Shire and rural areas;
• provides an implementation framework.

The Strategy will ensure that future rural and urban developments are sustainable and compatible with the Shire's environmental resources and best meet current and future needs of the local communities. The Land Use Strategy provides the necessary strategic framework for the Cowra Shire for the next 25 years and beyond.