The consent authority and the combat agency

A perspective on the interaction between councils and the State Emergency Service in floodplain management matters. Keys, C. and Opper, S. (2001) presented at the 41st annual conference of the Floodplain Management Authorities of NSW, Wentworth, 2001

Local government councils and the State Emergency Service (SES) both have an interest in the management of the use of floodplain land, one in the consent authority role and the other as the combat agency for the management of actual floods. This interest has as its core the reduction of the risks associated with living and working on floodplains, and many ways of achieving this reduction have been successfully applied in New South Wales (NSW). This paper spells out the assistance which the SES can provide to councils in the context of floodplain management, suggests some guiding principles for the interaction of councils and the SES in these matters, and indicates some of the difficulties which the SES has experienced in its dealings with councils about land use decision-making processes.

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