Central Coast Council has prepared a draft Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan (FRMSP) for the Davistown and Empire Bay catchments including the suburbs of Davistown, Empire Bay and portions of Bensville. The draft report was prepared following extensive community consultation throughout the project including public exhibition in February 2021, and detailed assessment of flood risk management measures.
The Davistown and Empire Bay Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan were adopted in the Council meeting on Tuesday 11 October 2022.
You can view the adopted plans on the Strategies and Plans page of the Council website.
About the Study and Plan
The Davistown and Empire Bay catchments lie adjacent to the Brisbane Water Estuary within the Central Coast Council Local Government Area. The catchments include the suburbs of Davistown, Empire Bay and a portion of Bensville. The catchments are made up of residential, open space and bushland areas, as well as several key access roads.
Davistown and Empire Bay can be impacted by various types of flood risk including:
- local catchment flooding as a result of rainfall on the catchment,
- Brisbane Water flooding as a result of ocean storms and extreme tides
It is expected that all of these flood risks will be aggravated by the effect of climate change.
In December 2015, Council adopted the Brisbane Water Foreshore Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan. Some of the recommended management options were deferred until further analysis was undertaken to assess the correlation between catchment flooding in the low-lying suburbs of Davistown and Empire Bay and resulting impacts of the recommended management options, if any.
The Davistown and Empire Bay Floodplain Risk Management Study identifies options to manage flooding (overland and coastal) and assesses them through flood modelling, economic damages assessments, and against a range of other environmental and social criteria. The findings of the Floodplain Risk Management Study form the recommendations and strategic program presented in the Davistown and Empire Bay Floodplain Risk Management Plan.
This study is being prepared by specialist flood consultants Rhelm Pty Ltd and is jointly funded by Council and NSW Government Department of Planning and Environment (DPE), through their Floodplain Management Program.
Engagement Summary
For this project, Council has previously undertaken community consultation to look at ways to manage the flooding problems that were identified in the Davistown and Empire Bay Flood Studies (Cardno Lawson Treloar, 2010).
Between 10 October and 13 December 2019 Central Coast Council sought feedback from the community to help develop the draft Davistown and Empire Bay Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan.
During the consultation period the community were invited to:
- review the draft Empire Bay Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan
- attend community drop-in sessions: Davistown information session on Wednesday 24 February, 4pm-7pm at Davistown Progress Association Hall and Empire Bay information session Thursday 25 February, 2pm-5pm at Empire Bay Progress Association Hall.
- register for a one-on-one online session to discuss the draft reports with Council project officers.
- check out our interactive map with the recommended options from the draft study and plan, as well as flood extents for 1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) floods on an
- read our frequently asked questions on our main floodplain management page
Submissions were also accepted via email, mail and online submission form until 5pm Friday 26 March 2021.
Read more in the Engagement Summary here
Got a question?
Visit our floodplain management page and check out our FAQs.
*This website does not necessarily represent the opinions of the NSW Government or the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.
