This time of year is rich with Season’s Greetings and Year in Reviews, and FMA would like to keep it short and sweet. Most of you (the lucky ones) will be on holidays from your 9-5 and spending some much needed time recharging your batteries for what will come your way in 2022 and we don’t want to waste any of it.

Thank you for all of your efforts, enthusiasm and encouragement throughout the year. Most were quite optimistic heading into 2021 and didn’t expect it to be as disruptive as it was. We thought it would signal the end of Zoom meetings and online networking and bring back handshakes, shared laughter and drinks, and engaging workshopping events. But alas, 2021 had different plans.

Thank you for sticking by us while we again navigated challenging waters and found new and better ways to connect with you and continue to provide you with opportunities for professional development in a constantly changing environment.

Thank you for connecting to Meetings, logging on to webinars, submitting abstracts, and taking a gamble with online trivia. Thank you for celebrating the incredible accomplishments of our Members throughout our Conference program and Quarterly Workshop topics.

While we are not naïve enough to assume we know what to expect in the year to come, we know that we are going to do our best to make it worth the wait. We are especially excited to see you all in person in Toowoomba in May for what will be the most festive Conference in FMA history.

We are only as strong as our network of Members, and for that FMA knows it is stronger than ever.

We wish you all the very best this New Year,

Dominique Jovanovic
Project and Services Manager and FMA Flyer Editor

The NSW Strategic Guide to Planning for Natural Hazards and supporting resource kit have been finalised and released. 

The draft Strategic guide to planning for natural hazards and its associated toolkit were exhibited by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment from 27 April to 8 June 2021. The Department received a total of 34 submissions, including a submission from FMA.

A report prepared by the Department on the feedback can be accessed at floods.org.au/submissions.

The number of responses indicates a relatively low level of reaction to the proposed Guideline. Submissions were received from only 15 Councils and one person in the general community. A total of 18 key stakeholder submissions were received, 8 from government agencies and 10 from industry or interest groups.

Consistent with the FMA submission, the three most common themes raised in submissions questioned the statutory weight to be given to the guide and how the guide would be implemented, and provided requests and suggestions for the enhancement of the spatial data and the toolkit.

The Department emphasises that the guide does not have statutory weight as the principal intention is to provide high-level guidance on natural hazards to help influence good strategic planning decisions when regional and district plans are being prepared. The Department considers existing section 9.1 Directions are sufficient and it is not necessary at this stage to make the guide a formal consideration for planning proposals.

The Department also notes that the Act already ensures the guide would be considered in the preparation of regional and district plans. The Department will however include reference to natural hazards in the Planning Proposal Guide.

The response to submissions report addresses a range of other detail matters and notes that the next steps are to include investigating a range of options to strengthen the inclusion of natural hazards, and building resilience in all aspects of the planning framework, in addition to the Guide.

The draft State Environmental Planning Policy (Design and Place) 2021, together with a package of related documents, is on exhibition until 28 February 2022. 

A general outline of the proposed SEPP was exhibited earlier this year, and FMA made a submission on it. Our Land Use Planning Director, Paul Grech, represented FMA in workshops leading up to the exhibition of this initial draft outline and subsequently in reference group meetings prior to the current exhibition of the draft SEPP.   

The SEPP is intended to address a broad range of design considerations in the planning process, including a requirement for consent authorities to be satisfied that resilience measures have been incorporated in the design process. This is proposed to include incorporating measures to avoid exposure to, and to mitigate and adapt to, the risks of natural hazards, including climate change risks.

The proposed SEPP, associated legislative changes and companion documents will have significant implications for planning, including flood risk management. The FMA Executive will be considering the draft with the aim of making a submission. Any comments from FMA Members are welcomed.

The Australian National University’s Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions is hosting Climate Update 2022, a three hour overview of how our climate is changing and how we are responding to these changes in Australia and around the world.

This annual event will be held on 9 February from 3 to 6 pm, and will bring together experts, policymakers, students, industry and the community to discuss the state of our climate. Attendance can be either in person or online.

Part 1 will summarise the latest climate research, including a snapshot of newly released data on how our climate changed in 2021.

Part 2 will discuss the implications of the latest round of UN climate negotiations, COP26, held in Glasgow in November 2021. Presentations will focus on three critical issues – namely targets for emission reduction by 2030, how we can adapt to climate change in Australia and options for addressing climate change related loss and damage, particularly for developing economies.

Details are at: iceds.anu.edu.au/news-events/events/anu-climate-update-2022

The FMA Flyer reaches a wide range of industry professionals from Australia and overseas, and if you have any recent projects or exciting news we would love to share it with our readers.

Send through details of your stories and we can include them in our upcoming issues by contacting [email protected].