FAQs

Council’s Greenweb program assists in the protection and enhancement of biodiversity (bushland) throughout Sutherland Shire. It includes both public and private lands.

Council’s Greenweb program identifies key areas of bushland habitat and establishes corridors to connect them. The network of bushland supports the movement of animals across the area. This helps to maintain healthy populations and diversity in plants and animals. Council’s Greenweb has three categories: ‘Core’, ‘Support’ and ‘Restoration’.

The Greater Sydney Commission has created a vision for Sydney as a ‘city in its landscape’. To achieve this, significant emphasis has been placed on the role of the urban tree canopy and the need to expand it. The Greater Sydney Commission has set a target for all councils to increase the tree canopy cover of urban areas to 40%, up from the current 23% as well as prepare a ‘Green Grid’ strategy for each LGA. Council’s Community Strategic Plan also sets a goal of ‘no net canopy loss’.

The landscape of the Sutherland Shire has seen significant changes since Greenweb began. It is timely to review Greenweb to align with overarching Greater Sydney Commission requirements. The review has removed areas where biodiversity links are now unlikely to be established and added areas where Council’s Green Streets program can help achieve links.  

To find out whether your property falls within this area, please consult Council’s draft Greenweb Map on Join the Conversation: http://jointheconverstation.sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au/

Your property has been identified as having strategically important habitat value or the potential to contribute to a bushland corridor.

No. Greenweb does not prevent or prohibit development, rather it highlights the potential of the land to promote biodiversity and draws attention to this as a consideration in the assessment of development applications. The DCP controls guide the siting of development, which vegetation should be retained, and how proposed landscape elements are best integrated with new development to maximise habitat value.

Land identified as ‘Core’ on Council’s Greenweb mapping are the areas of highest ecological significance and biodiversity value. Core areas are the main areas where plants and animals live. These areas contain key habitat areas, threatened species or endangered ecological communities and are typically more than 2 hectares in area. Development on land identified as ‘Core’ should maintain habitats in a size and configuration that ensures connectivity and ongoing viability and sustainability.

Land identified as ‘Support’ on Council’s Greenweb mapping are those areas that aim to facilitate the movement of species between areas of core habitat. Support areas are those areas that contain areas of native vegetation such that they become ‘stepping stones’ between core areas. Land within the ‘Support’ area should seek to maximise habitat values and minimise disruption and to connectivity through the siting, design and landscape treatment of the site.

Land identified as ‘Restoration’ are used to protect environmentally significant areas as a form of buffer. Development should contribute to a long term strategy of establishing connectivity between bushland remnants through its siting, design and landscape treatment. Properties within the restoration areas should seek to plant species indigenous to the locality and retain native canopy trees to prevent edge effects to higher order Greenweb areas.

No, however Council has a Greenweb officer who works with landowners to achieve suitable planting outcomes in areas identified as Greenweb. To encourage planting of appropriate trees on properties, the Native Plant Selector tool on Council’s website recommends plants suitable for every locality. Residents simply have to put their address into the tool and the appropriate local indigenous plants are identified.  

Please contact Council’s Greenweb Officer for further information on 9710 0800. 

Private property owners in the Greenweb network are also invited to apply for grants to restore natural bushland on their property.