NSW Department of Planning and Environment

01/07/2025 | Press release | Archived content

NSW Government releases new Shelter in Place guideline

The NSW Government is releasing the Shelter in Place for Flash Flooding guideline for councils and industry this week, providing further guidance aimed at stopping inappropriate development on floodplains.

The guideline was prepared by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) and is part of the NSW Government's response to the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry.

An independent expert inquiry was carried out into the preparation, causes, response and recovery from the significant flooding experienced in NSW in early 2022.

It was led by Professor Mary O'Kane AC and Michael Fuller APM and identified the need for a consistent framework for planning authorities or landholders to consult when considering whether shelter in place is a suitable emergency management strategy for development proposed in flash flood environments.

The guideline was developed in consultation with the NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and the NSW Reconstruction Authority.

It can be used by consent authorities to assess if sheltering in place is a suitable emergency strategy where sites are prone to flash flooding and people can safely shelter above the Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) level.

The guideline aims to:

  • Help provide consent authorities a consistent approach for carrying out site specific risk based assessment.
  • Help assess if shelter in place is a suitable emergency management strategy for development proposed in flash flood environments by balancing a proposals merits, risks, and impacts.
  • Inform considerations about whether appropriate measures are in place to limit potential flash flood related impacts on affected proposals.

The guideline considers shelter in place where:

  • Flash flooding is the only flood risk present at the site and;
  • People can safely shelter in place above the PMF level.

For more information about the Shelter in Place Guidelines please visit Shelter-in-Place.

Executive Director, Environment and Infrastructure Planning and Resilient Places, Steve Hartley said:

"We're focused on delivering good planning, awareness, preparedness and the adoption of appropriate risk management and mitigation strategies that will help achieve this objective.

"Evacuation is always the preferred emergency response in a natural event such as a flood, however, on some occasions a shelter in place strategy may be considered.

"The guideline will help councils and industry consider the option for a shelter in place strategy, where flash flooding is the only flood risk present at a site.

"Before this was developed, there wasn't a shelter in place guideline for land use planning decisions.

"We've worked hard with our agencies across government to develop the Shelter in Place guideline and to mitigate as many risks as possible."