The draft Plan of Management has been released as three documents which can be downloaded from the link below.
Draft Plan of Management downloads
The documents are:
Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area Draft Plan of Management – 9.2Mb
Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park, Garawarra State Conservation Area Draft Planning Considerations – 14.7Mb
Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park and Garawarra State Conservation Area Draft Mountain Biking Plan – 7.4Mb
We would like to hear the views of all our members, and other interested parties. So please send through your comments on the plan by completing the Contact Us form. Then please join us for our June General Meeting at 4pm on June 24th at the Environmental Education Centre on Farnell Avenue.
NPWS have released the following advice regarding the Plan of Management:
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is currently exhibiting a draft plan of management for Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park, Garawarra State Conservation Area. The parks are in the southern Sydney and Illawarra regions of New South Wales.
The first plan for the parks was adopted two decades ago. The parks now face a number of challenges including growing visitor numbers, increasing urbanisation of the surrounding region and impacts from climate change. A new plan is needed to respond to these challenges and guide the future management of the parks.
The new plan will support continued delivery of upgrades and new visitor facilities as well as asset renewal across all three parks. This includes over $10 million of funding that support improvements and restorations at the Audley Visitor Precinct, upgrades at Bonnie Vale Visitor Area, new visitor facilities at Garawarra Farm, and renewals of Burgh Ridge and Honeymoon Walking Tracks.
This investment in visitor facilities is possible because of the NSW Government’s record $257 million investment in new and improved infrastructure projects across the national parks’ estate. This is the largest ever investment in national parks visitor infrastructure and aims to improve visitor experiences and boost local economies while also promoting enhanced conservation of important natural assets.
Cycling and mountain biking are growing in popularity in the parks covered by this plan. To support sustainable mountain biking opportunities a draft mountain biking plan has been developed and is also open for public comment concurrent with the draft plan of management.
The draft plan of management is accompanied by the Royal National Park, Heathcote National Park, Garawarra State Conservation Area Draft Planning Considerations report. Readers of the plan may wish to refer to the planning considerations report for more detailed explanations of the parks’ values and management considerations.
The draft plans can be viewed at www.environment.nsw.gov.au/get-involved/have-your-say or the Royal National Park Visitor Centre, 2 Lady Carrington Dr, Royal National Park NSW 2233.
You are invited to provide feedback on the draft plans by sending a written submission in one of the following ways:
Written submissions must be received by 2 August 2021. Your submission will be provided to two advisory bodies. See www.environment.nsw.gov.au/help/privacy.htm for information on how we will treat any personal information you provide.
If you have any questions about the park or the draft plans, please contact me at npws.parkplanning@environment.nsw.gov.au.