TEC's campaign for the Blue-Green Grid has taken a big step forward with the NSW Government adopting it as part of the recently released draft Sydney Plan. The vision for interconnected and protected green spaces, river and creek foreshores and tree canopy in Sydney – extending from the Koala greenbelt in the west to the coast – is essential to our current and future environment.
Now we need to ensure it is enforced at regional and local levels, and protected from public and private developers. The benefits are enormous – improved air quality and mental health, biodiversity conservation, creation of active and passive recreational areas and urban heat mitigation. As Sydney grows and changes, the Blue-Green Grid is a priority. Key chapters in the Plan are Public Open Space and Blue-Green Grid.
Submissions to the Planning Dept are due by 27 February 2026 and can be made here. Key points to make are:
- That the BGG is not 'advisory' or a 'guideline' but a mandatory requirement to be delivered in regional and local plans. It must be a critical piece of green infrastructure for long term sustainability.
- Existing mature trees on private and public land must be protected in order to achieve the 40% canopy target for the city, in recognition of the environmental and financial costs of urban heat; with massive fines for their illegal removal. Such trees are the basis for the major challenge of expanding canopy, otherwise there will be a net loss.
- Vegetated zones adjacent to waterways should be expanded to at least 120m, particularly when transecting threatened vegetation communities and wildlife populations. These are also the basis for passive recreation trails.
- Recognition of Sydney’s Koala Belt – with an average corridor width of 390m to 435m, as per the Chief Scientist's recommendations – linking to the Coastal Whale Walk. Sydney's unique wildlife and flora is of international significance.
- Stop urban sprawl into remaining bushland and corridors.
- Continue to develop Harbour foreshore green corridors as prime sites for the increasingly denser population patterns.
- An annual public report on the progress of the BGG is required, to deliver accountability and transparency.
- NGO representation is necessary on the BGG Committee to ensure it is not captured by bureaucratic or developer interests.
- Avoid use of artificial grass due to its plastic pollution potential. Plastic grass fragments are being increasingly found in waterways, harming marine environments.
The key aim is to go beyond weak guidelines for developers, ineffective information kits and ad hoc projects with limited funding – and instead set up a comprehensive implementation program that delivers green cooling spaces, protects remnant bushland, and saves trees. In addition to your submission, you can also send a message to the Premier and Planning Minister – add your own points. See below.
Sydney's Blue-Green Spaces: New Healthy City Plan and Implementation Strategy
Our plan for a Blue-Green Grid of open spaces for nature and people across Sydney is a visionary plan to protect and expand Sydney’s green and blue spaces for present and future generations, as a counterbalance to the growing population and push for denser development. It also seeks to protect the remaining native bushland and endangered species, such as the Koala colony on the city’s edge. There have been quite a few plans and ad hoc green space programs over the years, but none have delivered what Sydney needs now and into the future.
Our Blue-Green Grid vision proposes a strategy for effective implementation to grow and defend Sydney’s Blue-Green Grid. Learn more about our Blue-Green Grid plans here.
Cover photo by Deeva Sood on Unsplash
Send a message to NSW's Premier, Chris Minns and Minister for Planning, Paul Scully urging them to take action.
Your message will be sent directly to the ministers. You can personalise your message by altering or adding to the subject line and the message text.