Frequently Asked Questions

The Panel is responsible for implementing Lake Macquarie City Council’s Lead Mitigation Grants Program.  They will assess grant applications and disburse funding to help eligible landowners in North Lake Macquarie manage soil contamination issues.

The Panel is responsible for ensuring:

• assessments are conducted consistently and without prejudice

• applications are assessed against the Lead Mitigation Grant Guidelines

• advice and recommendations reflect good governance and probity.

Membership for the Panel includes two Council staff members, one NSW EPA representative and one community representative.

Council is calling for Expressions of Interest from residents who would like to become a volunteer member of the Panel.  In selecting the community representative, preference will be given to candidates who can assess grant application independently and represent the interests of the local community.  Expressions of Interest close 27 September 2019.

Panel meetings will be held quarterly or as needed.  Notification of meeting dates and times to members and invitees will be provided at least seven days in advance of the scheduled meeting.  The first meeting is expected to be in October 2019.

Panel meetings will be held in Council’s administrative building (126-138 Main Road, Speers Point).

The term of appointment is for the duration of the NSW EPA project funding agreement with Council to 30 June 2022.  An alternate representative may be appointed if the representative is unable to attend future meetings.

All development applications submitted to Council are considered for potential contamination issues. Properties that fall within the Lead Abatement Strategy area are considered potentially contaminated until sampling and analysis results prove otherwise.

The proposed amendment aims to streamline this assessment of contamination, and make it easier for residents of the Lead Abatement Strategy area to submit development applications.

Instead of the current four-step application process, the amendment proposes to replace this with a simpler two-step process for residents living in this area. Figure 1 below shows the current steps that are required during a development application and the streamlined approach that the amendment to the Development Control Plan will allow.

This amendment to the Development Control Plan was recommended by the Lead Expert Working Group. The Lead Expert Working Group was established by the NSW Environment Protection Authority to evaluate the effectiveness of the Lead Abatement Strategy. The Lead Expert Working Group made 22 recommendations, which were all endorsed by both Council and the State Government in 2017.

The proposed changes to the Development Control Plan will only affect you if you lodge a development application for a residential property in the Lead Abatement Strategy area.

You can provide a brief comment or upload a detailed written submission on this project page. Alternatively, you can write to Council before close of business on Monday 26 August 2019. You can either send an email to [email protected] or send a letter addressed to

The CEO

Lake Macquarie City Council

Box 1906, Hunter Region Mail Centre

NSW 2310

In addition, hard copies of the material will be available at Council’s Customer Service Centre, 126 – 138 Main Road, Speers Point and at the following libraries: Belmont, Cardiff, Charlestown, Edgeworth, Morisset, Speers Point, Swansea, Toronto, Wangi Wangi and Windale.

Council staff will also be available to provide more information about this proposed amendment at a pop-up stall at the Lake Macquarie Farmers Markets at Speers Point Park on Saturday 27 July, 7.30am-1pm.

Council is working with the Environmental Protection Agency to develop the Lead Mitigation Grant Program, which will support eligible residents and land owners who have been adversely impacted by lead soil contamination. Further detail on this grant program, and information on how to apply, will be available in late 2019.

No. You are only required to have testing completed if you are lodging a development application with Council for a residential property.

The Lead Abatement Strategy was developed by the Deed Administrators of Pasminco Cockle Creek Pty Ltd to find a suitable and workable solution to managing the lead fallout levels from soils in the community surrounding the former smelter.

The Lead Abatement Strategy was designed to minimise exposure to lead contaminated soil on residential properties. As part of the strategy, lead-in-soil testing was undertaken and abatement works were conducted, if necessary, to ensure there was an effective physical barrier between residents and contaminated soil. The physical barrier was established by using materials such as soil, turf, or concrete.

Participation in the Lead Abatement Strategy was voluntary, and owners of approximately half of the nominated properties chose to opt out. Property owners that participated in the Lead Abatement Strategy had soils on their property tested, and abatement works were undertaken where required.

After the site was tested and an appropriate barrier between the residents and the contaminated soil was in place, the property owners received a "Certificate of Completion". It is important to highlight that this does not indicate that the site is free from lead-in-soil contamination, but rather, that works were conducted in accordance with the Lead Abatement Strategy.

Council’s contaminated land threshold for lead-in-soil for residential development is 300ppm. This is based on the National Environmental Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 1999 for residential development.

Based on the results of the testing during the Lead Abatement Strategy, or the choice not to participate in the Strategy, each property within the Lead Abatement Strategy area was assigned a contamination notation.

The contamination notations are:

Notation 1 – contaminated land

Notation 2 – potentially contaminated land

Notation 3 – remediated and above the contaminated land investigation threshold levels

Notation 4 – remediated and below the contaminated land investigation threshold levels

Notation 5 – below contaminated land investigation threshold

Notation 6 – no clear site history

Properties with contamination notation 1, 2 and 3 will need to have contamination assessed during the development application process. Properties with contamination 4 and 5 do not need to have contamination assessed during the development application process and the proposed changes to the Development Control Plan will not affect these properties.

You can check your contamination notation using Council’s online property enquiry tool: http://apptracking.lakemac.com.au/modules/PropertyMaster/default.aspx

Once you agree to the terms and conditions of using the property enquiry tool, you then need to enter your property details and click search. Your property should then be displayed and when you click on this link, the property details are shown. The contamination notation for your property can be found in the minor conditions, which are at the bottom of the page. You can also contact Council and request information on the contamination status of your property. Any relevant documentation held by Council will be provided on request.

Landholders undertaking development on contaminated or potentially contaminated land are required to take measures to prevent harm to human or environmental health. The Standard Remedial Action Plans detail how contaminated soil is to be managed on the property during development.

The Standard Remediation Action Plan only applies to residential properties. As the chance of soil exposure for residential properties is higher, the requirements for residential properties are more stringent. As a result, commercial and industrial properties will still need to follow the existing process for contamination assessment.

Rehabilitation of all contaminated land must be in accordance with the State Environmental Planning Policy No 55 – Remediation of Land.

Works involving contaminated land on Council controlled land, is undertaken in accordance with Council’s Environmental Management Plan for Contaminated Land in Council’s Care and Control. Contamination management on Council controlled land may include on-site containment or off-site disposal at an appropriately licenced facility. The remediation options in for Council land are equivalent to and as stringent as the options outlined in the Standard Remedial Action Plans.

The reference in the Standard Remedial Action Plan to the Lake Macquarie Lead Community Reference Group is a legacy from earlier drafts and will be removed from any future versions of the document.

To date, community consultation for the Standard Remedial Action Plan has included writing to all Councillors, MPs, relevant government agencies, all landowners within the lead abatement strategy area and newspaper advertising. The exhibition period has been extended until Monday 26 August 2019, and will also include a pop-up stall at Lake Macquarie Farmers Market at Speers Point Park on 27 July 2019.

If you need to dispose of soil, you can contact our Awaba Waste Management Facility on 4921 0333 or [email protected].

The Awaba Waste Management Facility is relatively small and is unable to accommodate a new cell for contaminated land.

Environmental, human health and financial costs associated with opening a new dedicated site in Lake Macquarie for the disposal of contaminated soil from North Lake Macquarie is prohibitive compared to the available cell for contaminated soil at Newcastle City Council's Summerhill Waste Management Centre.

Anticipated starting time for this NSW EPA grant funded role will be 1 October 2018. The key duties of this role will be:

- to monitor ongoing issues and to identify future issues regarding legacy lead contamination in Lake Macquarie through a risk communication framework

- as a single point of contact for the community, agencies and external stakeholders in regard to legacy lead contamination in Lake Macquarie

- providing funding support and advice to public and private landholders wishing to undertake voluntary soil assessment and property remediation

- expanding engagement material to include advice on maintaining contamination barriers and hygiene, and improving links to and from Hunter New England Health information.

Council is receiving $800,000 over four years to implement the certain Lead Expert Working Group recommendations that are outside the usual remit of Council activities recommendations 1, 2 , 13, 18 and 19). About half of these funds will be spent on the small grant fund and the remainder will be used to implement the other recommendations. 

Our current engagement is seeking feedback on criteria for allocation of the small grant fund and the focus of Council's work to implement the other recommendations funded by the NSW EPA.  The grant program is constrained by a risk management framework and the terms of the grant agreement with the NSW EPA. This means that we must take into account how to best manage the impact of contaminated land on the health of the local community and environment. For example, access to the grant program must be prioritised where there are acute health issues identified. Other possibilities are testing for soil if the status is not currently known or supplying bulka bag frames to assist in loading of bags for transport of contaminated soil. 

The current community engagement is seeking community feedback into the criteria for accessing the funding for the small grant fund. Once this feedback has been reviewed it will be used to help determine the grant criteria and governance arrangements.

The grant program arrangements will then be finalised, with an access date likely to be from late 2019.