Project update

Thanks for having your say! The Crown Land Plan of Management was adopted by Council on 31 October 2023. View the final Plan here.

Crown Land Plan of Management (CLPoM)

City of Newcastle (CN) manages land in public spaces such as parks, sporting and recreation spaces, natural areas, cultural and heritage sites. These public spaces are called Community Land, and are reserved for use by the general public. Some of the Community Land that we manage is owned by CN, whilst some of the Community Land that we manage is owned by the NSW State Government, known as Crown Land.

CN is required to prepare Plans of Management (PoM) to guide the use and management of all community land. The PoM indicates how each parcel of land may be used or developed including leases, licenses and short-term uses. The document also aims to ensure that the usage and management of different types of community land remain consistent with the current and future needs of the community.

The Crown Land PoM specifically covers land that is Crown Land, owned by the NSW Government and managed by CN. It has been prepared in accordance with the Crown Land Management Act 2016 and Local Government Act 1993.

A separate PoM covering all other Community Land that CN manages will be prepared and placed on public exhibition after the Crown Land PoM has been adopted. In the meantime, the current PoMs still apply for Community Land, namely CN’s Neighbourhood Parks, Sportslands, Bushland and General Community Use PoMs.

Crown reserves are land set aside on behalf of the community for a wide range of public purposes including: environmental and heritage protection, recreation and sport, open space, community facilities, special events and government services. For more information, visit the Crown Lands website.

The intention of the PoM is to maintain the current usage and purposes of the reserves.

This includes:

  • Categorising the land as either park, sportsground, general community use or natural area
  • Identifying permitted uses and activities
  • Outlining existing and proposed new leases

CN currently has five separate generic PoM that govern community land for neighbourhood parks, playgrounds, sportlands, bushland and general community use. A draft Community Land PoM covering all of these areas was endorsed and exhibited by Council in 2017, but was placed on hold due to the introduction of the Crown Land Management Act 2016. Site specific PoM also exist for some areas including: Blackbutt Reserve, National Park, Newcastle Harbour Foreshore, Fort Scratchley, Heritage Places and Coastal land. However, these PoM will remain in place for community land parcels only. Crown land reserves within the generic PoM and site specific PoM will now be covered within the Crown Land PoM. For more information, view our current Plans of Management.

Thanks for having your say!

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. The draft Crown Land Plan of Management was on public exhibition from 30 November 2022 to 31 January 2023.

Proposed amendments to the draft CLPoM were referred back to Crown Lands to receive consent for Council to adopt the final CLPoM. The final Plan was adopted by Council on 31 October 2023. View the Council Report here.

Amendments to the CLPoM include:

  • Reference to Rawson Reserve clarifying CN's responsibilities for managing the Reserve, and accounting for its finances in accordance with the Crown Land Management Act.
  • Updates to Appendix 2 and 3 providing clarification of ancillary uses including associated Emergency Service operations.
  • Additional action relating to strengthening CN's advocacy role with State and Federal governments.
  • Additional action included for CN to prepare a Leases and Licencing Policy and consult with the community as part of the process.
  • General updates to ensure consistency with other CN strategies, policies and relevant legislation.