The NSW Government will host two webinar sessions next month outlining new flood-prone land planning rules and guidelines which it says will promote “safety and certainty”.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes launched the Flood Prone Land Package on Saturday, saying communities need to increase resilience with better planning as natural disasters become more frequent and severe.

Floods in March, which devastated parts of NSW, were a reminder of how important this has become and the new guidelines help plan for the future and ensure communities are sufficiently prepared in the event of extreme flooding, he says.

“Flood resilience starts at the planning level,” Mr Stokes said. “We support careful development of flood-prone land but that development needs to put community safety first.”

A draft of the new flood-prone land package was on exhibition in May and June last year. It enables councils to have more flexibility to make informed decisions on land planning and development controls in flood-prone areas.

Councils have six weeks to amend their land use planning documents before the package takes effect in mid-July.

The changes come after consultation with the community, councils, emergency services and Infrastructure NSW and promise to build greater resilience into communities in floodplains and reduce potential property damage and loss of life “in recognition of increasing extreme flood events throughout NSW”.

Registration for a webinar on June 16 can be accessed here and for June 23 here.