Outlines flood-related planning policies and current flood policy initiatives.
This circular outlines existing flood-related planning policies and gives further advice on their application in planning. It also updates on flood-related policy initiatives underway, including action responding to the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry.
Circular PS 26-001 is a NSW planning system circular dealing with flooding and land use planning, issued on 13 February 2026 under the 'Planning Systems' principle. According to the source, it draws together the existing flood-related planning policies already in force and gives practitioners further information and advice on how to apply those policies when they are planning for, or assessing development on, flood-affected land. In other words, it is a consolidation-and-guidance document rather than a new rule-making instrument.
The source lists this circular as applying to NSW councils and planning practitioners. Like all current planning system circulars, it is non-statutory guidance intended to support consistent practice rather than a binding legal instrument.
It applies whenever councils and planning practitioners are applying flood-related planning policies in planning — the source does not specify particular triggers, thresholds, application types or documents beyond this general application to flood-related planning.
The circular outlines the existing flood-related planning policies and provides further information and advice on their application in planning.
The circular provides updates on flood-related policy initiatives that are underway, including action taken in response to the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry.
Kiama is a small coastal Illawarra/South Coast LGA that faces flood and coastal hazard risks, so guidance consolidating flood-related planning policy is directly relevant to how the council plans for and assesses development on flood-affected land. However, the supplied source only summarises the circular in a single sentence and does not set out the specific policies, thresholds or steps; Kiama planners would need to read the full PS 26-001 PDF (355 KB) to understand the concrete requirements, and should note it is non-statutory guidance rather than a binding order.
“The circular outlines existing flood-related planning policies and provides further information and advice on their application in planning.”
“The circular also provides updates on flood-related policy initiatives underway, including action taken in response to the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry.”
“Current planning system circulars provide point-in-time non‑statutory guidance to support the consistent application of planning principles, processes and practices across NSW.”
Reproduced from the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (planning.nsw.gov.au), © State of New South Wales, under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Text extraction may introduce minor formatting artefacts — rely on the official source for anything decision-critical.
This is an unofficial reproduction provided for convenience. It is not the official version of the legislation. For the official, in-force version, see legislation.nsw.gov.au.