You're invited to review and make a submission on the Teralba to Toronto Climate Resilience Plan before 31 July 2025.
Overview
The Teralba to Toronto Climate Resilience Plan is for the suburbs of Teralba, Fassifern, Fennell Bay, Booragul, Woodrising, Marmong Point, Bolton Point, Blackalls Park and Toronto (the T2T area).
On the north-western side of Lake Macquarie, the T2T area offers a great lifestyle, where residents can enjoy living close to the lake and bushland.
However, climate risk studies identify these suburbs as some of the most at-risk locations in the Lake Macquarie local government area to the impacts of climate hazards.
This risk is due to the exposure of assets and infrastructure and community vulnerability due to socioeconomic factors which can reduce people’s ability to respond to, and recover from, climate related events.
The plan has been developed with the community using a co-design approach to identify climate risks and actions to build climate resilience in their local area. Community and stakeholder engagement has occurred since late 2021. Nearly 500 potential options were identified to address climate risk within community and stakeholder workshops. These options were reviewed and refined to what has been incorporated into the plan under five climate resilience themes: A resilient community, Emergency ready, A resilient natural environment, Resilient assets and infrastructure and Building climate knowledge.
The Teralba to Toronto Climate Resilience Plan is Council’s third local adaptation plan, after the Marks Point and Belmont South local adaptation plan was adopted by Council in 2016, and the Swansea and Surrounds local adaptation plan was adopted by Council in 2021.
Council would like to thank the members of the Community Working Group for their time and efforts to develop the climate resilience plan.
Face-to-face opportunities
Wednesday 9 July at Toronto Hub 6-8pm. Get Emergency Ready with this two hour workshop presented by Red Cross on practical ways to prepare for emergencies and take steps to building your individual and household resilience. This will include a short presentation by Council staff on the T2T Climate Resilience Plan. Bookings are essential.
Wednesday 16 July Toronto Library 3-6pm. You’re invited to drop-in and discuss the Plan with the project team.
The plan identifies five themed outcomes for the T2T area and identifies actions already being done by Council and other agencies that build climate resilience. It also identifies new actions that Council will undertake, or hope to undertake if funding becomes available, to further enhance climate resilience for the T2T area in the coming years.
The plan is informed by data from existing flood studies and bush fire risk management plans.
Insurers use data from a variety of sources including historical flood measurements, Federal, State and Local government studies, the Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICA) National Flood Information Database and through their own research i.e. own assessment of risk. In essence, different companies will assess the risk in different ways and Council does not control what data insurers choose to use, or how they use it.
Over the past few years several factors have combined to raise the price of flood cover and insurance more generally. These include:
the cost of claims generated by the series of major disasters (including storms, flooding and bushfire) since 2010
Australian insurers paying more for reinsurance (insurance that insurers take out to cover major events) because of these disasters
changes in understanding where and when floods will occur and how much it costs to fix damage.
The Insurance Council of Australia advised Council that people should shop around if they are dissatisfied with the cost or coverage of their flood insurance. Residents are also advised to look carefully at what they are covered for, rather than just basing their decision on the price. For further information on insurance, residents can visit Insurance Council of Australia.
Emergencies can arise at any time, so it is important to take simple steps to protect yourself, your family, pets and property during a natural disaster or local emergency.
Know your risk - Think about the area you live in and the types of disasters that could affect you.
Plan now for what you'll do - Sit down and talk with your family and plan for what you will do if a disaster affects your area.
Get your home ready - Prepare your home by doing general home maintenance and checking your insurance.
Be aware - Find out how to prepare and what to do if there is a disaster in your area. Download emergency services apps, for example Hazards Near Me, on your phone to stay informed.
Look out for each other - Share information with your family, friends, neighbours and those who may need assistance.
Climate resilience planning closley looks at the level of risk exposure to people, assets, infrastructure and the environment and identifies actions to adapt and/or reduce the impact of climate hazard impacts.
The Bureau of Meteorology, CSIRO and NSW Government agencies predict an increase in climate related risks over the coming decades, including rising lake levels, flooding and bush fires.
The impacts on our local community could be:
Damage to public and private assets including our homes, community facilities, roads, drainage and other infrastructure
Threats to valuable ecosystems including our unique plant and animal communities
Pressures on food and water security and the cost of living.
Climate resilience is the capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts of climate hazard events and/or trends to try to minimise negative impacts on societal wellbeing, the economy and the environment.
Council is committed proactively identifying, planning and identifying actions to minimise the impacts of climate risks on our vulnerable communities.
Climate resilience planning involves Council and the community working together to better prepare for flooding, sea (and lake) level rise, bushfire, urban heat and other climate risks that can impact on community and environmental wellbeing.
Decisions we make now can have lasting impacts. New roads, drains and homes built today will still be around in 50 to 100 years, so we need to plan for the future now.
Submissions must be made in writing and received by 31 July 2025. You can choose to:
Provide written feedback via the online submission form on this website
Email [email protected] with the subject heading 'Draft Teralba to Toronto Climate Resilience Plan’
Write to Lake Macquarie City Council Attn: Environmental Strategy, Box 1906, Hunter Region Mail Centre, NSW, 2310.
Hard copies of the Plan are available to view at the Toronto and Speers Point library branches.
Your submission can be as concise or as long as you wish
Ideally, you will express your level of support for the proposal and provide detailed and specific feedback. The feedback will be reviewed by staff and later presented to Council to make an informed decision.
Should multiple submissions be received from a single resident regarding this project, the feedback will be reviewed by staff and counted as one submission when reporting back to Council.
Any submission received by Council will be publicly available on Council’s website. Submissions may also be accessed under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009. Council may reproduce submissions in Council reports or in Court proceedings.
Feedback may result in changes being made to the draft plan prior to a report being prepared for Council.
You will be notified again, prior to Council considering the matter, which will include a link to the Council report containing a summary of submissions and how feedback was considered.