Urban Growth Management in New South Wales: Market-based Approaches for Natural Resource Conservation

Urban growth management in New South Wales (NSW) has had a patchy history. Deficiencies have existed at the State level for example, in the policies and mechanisms for the management of the impact of development on natural resource values and environmental quality. Included in this scenario are various market-based instruments, the utilisation of which have been part of the Australian policy and regulatory landscape for more than two decades. Investigation, advocacy and, in some specific instances adoption, of a hybrid approach of regulatory, and statutory and policy-based economic, instruments has been evident over this time in the areas of urban planning, environmental protection and resource management (Williams, 2004). Yet despite this earlier promise and enthusiasm, the reality is that the extent and successful application of market-based tools in the Australian planning systems has been somewhat underwhelming. One reason for this poor record is the long-standing reliance on traditional ‘command and control’ approach using mechanisms such as land use zoning, development standards and other regulatory tools. Further, as market-based mechanisms constitute a more recent public policy approach, they are possibly a less understood planning tool that has been perceived to challenge the traditional regulatory framework. As a consequence there has been some reluctance on the part sections of government and other stakeholders to fully embrace this option to complement other planning other tools such as regulation.