The Macleay River catchment covers an area of approximately 11500 square kilometres; the upper reaches of which are located within the New England Tablelands. The objective of this draft Floodplain Risk Management Plan is to present the prioritised and costed floodplain risk management measures which are recommended for implementation within the Kempsey Study Area. The Plan draws extensively on the work undertaken in the preparation of the Kempsey CBD Floodplain Risk Management Study (WMAwater, 2017a), which should be referred to for more detailed information regarding the development and assessment of the measures presented herein.

The objectives of the present study are to identify and compare various management options, including an assessment of their social, economic and environmental impacts, together with opportunities to enhance the floodplain environments. The primary aim of the Plan is to reduce the flood hazard and risk to people and property in the existing community and to ensure future development is controlled in a manner consistent with the flood hazard and risk at this time and as a result of climate change.