The matter was resolved at its May meeting.

The policy and guidelines is aligned with relevant state government legislation and was adopted after being placed on public exhibition from February 16 until March 16.

During the exhibition phase, council received two written submissions.

One of the submissions was related to various issues surrounding the roadside stockpiling of soil and or road base while the second was from an environmental consultant company based in Coffs Harbour.

Council was told the contaminated land matters are inherently complex, often requiring a high level of technical expertise and knowledge to appropriately assess and manage.

“Council’s have a key role in protecting and restoring the quality of the environment through informed planning decisions and effective land management and the assessment and management of contaminated land is an important function of local government,” the council report noted.

“As part of the program a draft contaminated land policy and guidelines have been developed in addition to a suite of contaminated land resources which aim to provide a legally compliant framework for managing contaminated land in a responsible and regionally consistent manner. 

“An aim of the program and policy is to improve regional development standards and outcomes.”

Council adopted the policy.