2022 NSW Flood Inquiry
The NSW Government commissioned an independent inquiry into the preparation for, causes of, response to and recovery from the 2022 flood events across NSW. The report and recommendations from this inquiry have now been delivered.
The department is working with other government agencies and key stakeholders, like councils, on the implementation of the government's response to the report as part of its commitment to ensuring there is greater resilience in communities across NSW.
Further updates on the government’s response to the report will be provided in due course.
Penrith City Centre is next to the Nepean River. It is affected by flooding up to and beyond the 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) event. An AEP of 1% means there is a one-in-100 chance that a flood reaching a certain height could happen in any year. Penrith City Council has carefully managed the flood risks up to the 1% AEP flood, but the challenges of more severe and extreme events require greater collaboration.
We have worked closely with the council, Infrastructure NSW, Roads and Maritime Services and the NSW State Emergency Service to create an adaptive management framework to manage the flood risk in Penrith City Centre.
This framework will help guide planning decisions about development to ensure regional evacuation routes can cope if there is a flood. The NSW Government has also prepared a development assessment guideline (PDF, 143 KB) to ensure new development does not affect the safe evacuation of the existing community from the area.
These activities are consistent with the government’s policies to create a resilient Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley.
An amendment to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 requires development applications to comply with this guideline.