Have your say on draft Rural Residential Land Release Strategy

Published on 17 June 2026

Nambucca Valley community members can now view and give feedback on an important planning strategy Council has reviewed, the draft Rural Residential Land Release Strategy.

Nambucca Valley Council Acting General Manager David Moloney said new, probable maximum flood mapping has been added to the strategy, enabling Council to release the document and publicly exhibit it until 3 August 2026.

“It is the first time in 17 years the Nambucca Valley Rural Residential Land Release Strategy has been reviewed, so I anticipate it will be of high interest to our community,” he said.

“Our planning team undertook the review over past 12 months and identified 651.45 hectares of additional land from outside the current land release strategy areas could be rezoned for rural residential purposes.

“These areas are largely in Congarinni, Utungun and Newee Creek. While we are proposing to release land in these areas to allow opportunities to be more evenly spread across the shire, we are also looking to remove some land at Warrell Creek and Utungun which have been identified as having agricultural significance and to minimise the potential of land use conflict.

“I encourage our community to take a look at the draft, updated strategy and if you have any questions or comments, please communicate with Council staff by 3 August 2026.”

The intent for the draft Rural Residential Land Release Strategy is to provide a framework for the management of rural residential land in the Nambucca Valley. Council is responsible for ensuring there is enough land available to meet predicted population growth within the valley, balanced against the current infrastructure and environmental constraints.

Community members are invited to make a submission on the draft strategy up until Monday 3 August 2026, in writing via an email to council@nambucca.nsw.gov.au addressed to the General Manager, Nambucca Valley Council, or in a letter sent to PO Box 177, Macksville NSW 2447. Any submission may be incorporated in a Council business paper or otherwise publicly disclosed.  

Once public exhibition on the draft Rural Residential Land Release Strategy is completed, a report will be submitted to Council with recommendations on how to proceed with the draft strategy. Once the reviewed strategy is adopted by Council, it will be sent to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) for endorsement. Should DPHI provide endorsement, the strategy will then be used to support future rezoning applications.

The draft strategy can be viewed here.