Part I - Other Considerations - Richmond Valley Council

Richmond Valley Development Control Plan 2012I9. WSUD—Water Sensitive UrbanDesignWater Sensitive Urban Design, also known a WSUD (pronounced wiz-ud), is amultidisciplinary approach for integrating land use and water management(water supply, stormwater and wastewater) planning with the aim ofminimising the impacts of urban development on the natural water cycle.Many elements of WSUD are now incorporated into BASIX, BuildingSustainability Index, which make it mandatory to achieve water and energyefficiency in new development.Elements of WSUD that still prevail are:‣ erosion and sediment control during construction,‣ minimum rain water tank capacity for residential development,‣ stormwater management, and‣ aiming to maintain baseline water quality targets.I9.1. ObjectivesThe objective of this Chapter is to ensure that adequate water qualitymanagement principles are incorporated into development design and this iscarried through into the construction phase.I9.2. General PrinciplesThe application of a number of general principles will assist development inmeeting the objectives of this plan. The general principles include:‣ The waste management hierarchy;‣ The “Treatment Train”; and‣ Water Sensitive Urban Design.(1) Waste Management HierarchyThe waste management hierarchy is a universally accepted principle.Although developed for waste management the principles can be applied tourban development to reduce some of the impacts from cradle (source,individual dwelling level) to grave (end of pipe, disposal). The wastemanagement hierarchy consists of:‣ Avoid (most cost and resource efficient)‣ Reduce‣ Re-Use‣ Recycle‣ Disposal (most expensive and resource inefficient).The waste management hierarchy can be applied to water, wastewater,stormwater quality and stormwater volumes.Part I – Other Considerations – Water Sensitive Urban Design I.89