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Tweed Shire Council has adopted updated flood planning controls to ensure new homes and buildings in flood‑prone areas are better protected from future flooding and the increasing impacts of climate change.
These changes update Section A3 of the Tweed Development Control Plan and introduce new, interim Flood Planning Levels. The new flood planning levels are based on a range of studies and observations including:
- the 2024 Tweed Valley Flood Study Update and Expansion
- data recorded in both the 2017 and 2022 flood events where floodwaters exceeded previously adopted Flood Planning Levels in locations like Tumbulgum and Bogangar
- climate change projections for sea level rise and increased rainfall intensity.
- a freeboard of 0.5 metres continues to be added as a safety allowance to account for localised effects that might not be reflected well in modelling and acknowledging that each flood behaves differently.
The revised controls are now being used in the assessment of new developments and buildings applications on flood‑liable land, with the most noticeable changes occurring in highly impacted suburbs and coastal areas.
Given our lived experience of major flooding and ongoing development pressures, Council identified the need to fast-track the review of Flood Planning Levels and related planning controls, rather than waiting several years for the full Flood Risk Management Study process, which has recently commenced for the Tweed and Coastal Creeks floodplains. The Interim Flood Planning Levels Policy bridges this gap, to guide development decisions while broader flood risk studies continue. The Interim Policy will be subject to review and further feedback from the community and the development industry as part of these studies.
Tweed Shire Mayor Chris Cherry said Council is working hard to ensure the community is ready for any disasters in the future.
"These updated flood planning controls are a vital step in ensuring our community is better protected from future flood events. We've listened to the latest science, we've listened to our community, and we're acting now to keep people safe. Raising flood heights today means reducing risk tomorrow — and it helps us create a more resilient Tweed as we continue to face the growing impacts of climate change," Cr Cherry said.
Before the adoption of the updated controls, the draft policy was placed on public exhibition from 22 October 2025 to 23 January 2026, during which:
* 1,500 people visited the project page
* 269 downloaded the draft policy
* 4 completed the survey
* 5 provided direct email submissions.
In addition, Council:
* Hosted five drop‑in sessions across the Tweed and online
* Met with community leaders to review real‑world examples of the proposed changes
* Presented the draft updates to planning and building professionals working across the Shire.
The feedback received helped refine the final changes adopted by Council.
