Using Real-World Experience to Inform Urban Planning and Development

State Environmental Planning Policy No. 44- Koala Habitat Protection aims to encourage the proper conservation and management of areas of natural vegetation that provide habitat for koalas to ensure a permanent free-living population over their present range and reverse the current trend of koala population decline: (a) by requiring the preparation of plans of management before development consent can be granted in relation to areas of core koala habitat, (b) by encouraging the identification of areas of core koala habitat, and (c) by encouraging the inclusion of areas of core koala habitat in environment protection zones. Many “Koala Plans of Management” have been created across the Hastings-Macleay Area following urban development. This project seeks to undertake a case-study of Koala Plans of Management prepared in the Hastings-Macleay to determine whether they met the objective of “ensuring a permanent free-living population over their present range” and whether the individual actions identified in such Koala Plans of Management were achieved. If such Actions were not achieved, it seeks to identify the barriers to their application. This review will help to inform urban planning and development to ensure better outcomes for koala conservation into the future.