Overview
City of Newcastle has resolved not to approve or license council-managed land and foreshore reserves for climate group Rising Tide’s annual coal port protest. The Guardian reported the decision on 11 November 2026. Independent Lord Mayor Gavin Morris used his deciding vote at Tuesday night’s council meeting to pass the resolution. It followed a direct warning from NSW Premier Chris Minns that council risked being seen as complicit in unlawful disruption at the Port of Newcastle, the world’s largest coal export port.
The resolution removes municipal approvals for the land-based parts of the event. These include staging grounds, camping and foreshore gatherings, which have previously supported Rising Tide’s multi-day kayak blockades of the harbour shipping channel. The decision does not regulate the water itself. Navigation and exclusion zones in the harbour fall under a separate state framework. What council controls is the land that makes a large, multi-day assembly workable.
This article does not take a view on the protest. For environmental professionals, the decision is useful because it shows how public land licensing works in NSW. The mechanism council used is the same one that governs access for monitoring bores, sampling programmes, remediation compounds and community consultation events on council and Crown reserves. Developers, in-house counsel and council planners who rely on public land to deliver projects should understand how discretionary these approvals are and how quickly political priorities can shape them.
Key details
The Newcastle resolution prohibits council from issuing permits or event licences to Rising Tide on council-controlled reserves. According to the Guardian, the vote was split and the Lord Mayor’s deciding vote carried it. Under section 370 of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), the chairperson of a council meeting has a second or casting vote when votes are equal. A tied council can therefore still produce a binding outcome on land access. The Premier’s intervention before the vote framed the question as complicity in unlawful conduct rather than routine event management.
The legal basis for the decision sits in Chapter 6, Part 2 of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), which governs public land. Councils classify public land as community land or operational land. Community land must be managed under an adopted plan of management. Under section 46, it can only be leased or licensed for purposes consistent with its categorisation and that plan. Section 68 separately requires council approval for certain activities on community land, including:
- holding a public meeting
- constructing a temporary enclosure for entertainment
- using a loudspeaker or sound amplifying device.
A licence that a plan of management permits is still a discretionary approval, not an entitlement. Council can refuse it on merit.
Many NSW foreshore reserves are Crown land rather than council freehold. Under the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW), councils appointed as Crown land managers must manage dedicated or reserved Crown land as if it were public land under the Local Government Act. Section 3.22, in Division 3.4 of that Act, provides that this land is generally treated as community land. As a result, Crown foreshore reserves in Newcastle fall within the same plan of management, licensing and section 68 approval framework as council-owned parks. The practical effect is that one council resolution can close off both council and Crown land along the foreshore.
The on-water side of the protest runs through other legislation. Harbour navigation orders and maritime exclusion zones are made under the Marine Safety Act 1998 (NSW) framework. Section 214A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) creates offences for conduct on or near a major facility, including a port facility, that causes damage or serious disruption. In December 2023, the NSW Supreme Court declared parts of section 214A invalid in Kvelde v State of New South Wales, which narrowed its scope. The Guardian’s reporting places the Newcastle decision within this history of legal scrutiny of protest restrictions around the port. Council’s resolution adds a land-use layer to controls that previously relied mainly on criminal and maritime law.
Australian context
Other states use comparable models. In the jurisdictions below, public land access depends on a statutory plan or management instrument plus a discretionary licence or permit. In Queensland, trustees of reserves under the Land Act 1994 (Qld) grant trustee leases and permits within the purpose of the reserve. In Victoria, Crown land committees of management operate under the Crown Land (Reserves) Act 1978 (Vic). In South Australia, councils must adopt community land management plans under the Local Government Act 1999 (SA) before they can lease or license that land. The terminology differs, but in each case the land manager decides whether a proposed use fits the reserve’s purpose, and that decision is open to political as well as technical influence.
For contaminated land work in NSW, the licensing framework rarely makes headlines but often determines programme timing. Off-site groundwater wells, step-out soil bores and surface water sampling locations can end up on council or Crown reserves next to the site under investigation. This is more likely on foreshore and estuarine land, where contamination can migrate towards public open space. The National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 1999, as amended in 2013, expects assessments to characterise the lateral extent of contamination. Delineation therefore often requires work outside the client’s boundary. Where that land is community land, the sampling locations need consent consistent with the plan of management.
Crown land adds a further step that is often overlooked. The Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW) requires councils acting as Crown land managers to engage or employ at least one qualified native title manager. Before granting a lease, licence, permit or certain other dealings over Crown land, council must generally obtain that manager’s written advice on whether the proposed act is valid under the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth). Access requests over Crown reserves can therefore take longer than equivalent requests over council-owned land. Undetermined Aboriginal land claims under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983 (NSW) can also limit what dealings are possible on some Crown land.
What it means for project teams
The Newcastle decision concerns a protest, but the approval pathway it relies on applies equally to investigation and remediation work on public land. Project teams planning off-site works on council or Crown reserves should:
- confirm whether the land is council freehold or Crown land, and whether it is classified as community or operational land
- check the category and adopted plan of management to see whether the proposed use is permitted
- identify any section 68 approvals needed alongside a licence
- allow time for native title advice where Crown land is involved
- contact council property and open space staff early, before access becomes critical to the programme.
Even where a plan of management allows the use, council retains discretion to refuse or attach conditions. Early engagement and a clear explanation of the works, their duration and site restoration give an application the best chance of approval on time.
References and related sources
- Primary source: www.theguardian.com
- theguardian.com
- theguardian.com
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This is an iEnvi Machete news summary. Prepared by iEnvi to summarise the source article for contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, approvals and site risk professionals.
Published: 11 Nov 2026
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