How Blue Mountains City Council balances heritage, hazards, and a whole lot of visitors

This content was authorised by SGS Economics and Planning, a former partner of LGIU.

What do you get when you mix built heritage, breathtaking bushland, and five million annual visitors into a town of just 80,000 people? A planning puzzle with no shortage of complexity and creative solutions.

Recently, my colleague Jess Buckley and I had the pleasure of speaking with Blue Mountains City Council, whose team is navigating some of the biggest challenges in climate resilience, community planning and environmental management in Australia – all within a region that’s literally inside a World Heritage-listed national park (fun fact, the only other one like this is Banff in Alberta, Canada).

We met with three key minds from Council: Kim Barrett, Matthew Chambers, and Alison Butler, each bringing their own lens to the work ahead – from built heritage to environmental strategy, emergency management and long-range statutory planning.

Nature, neighbours, and National Parks

One of the most fascinating things about the Blue Mountains is how closely the Council works alongside (and sometimes overlaps with) NSW National Parks. That’s because many of the tracks, carparks and lookouts visitors use aren’t in the national park – they’re on Council land. As Matt put it,

“Most people think they’re in the national park, but they’re actually using our infrastructure.”

And managing that infrastructure is no small feat when it’s under constant pressure from storms, fires, and sheer foot traffic. The recovery from the 2020 bushfires is still ongoing – with careful work being done to rebuild not just quickly, but better. Timber steps might be swapped out for stone. Trails are being designed with resilience in mind. And the team is constantly weighing up who pays, which may include Council, the State, Federal Government, or a mix.

Heritage isn’t just history – it’s a living character

Kim shared insight into the region’s unique built form – a patchwork of conservation areas with strong local character. It’s something residents care deeply about, and it plays into every planning decision. Council has been proactive in maintaining this character even as pressure builds for more housing, better infrastructure, and climate adaptation.

Alison’s work in strategic planning means threading the needle between these needs. One of her team’s challenges includes identifying housing opportunities that meet growing demand, particularly for ageing, without compromising bushfire safety. And with policy settings at the State level often assuming a “one size fits all” model, Blue Mountains Council is regularly advocating for more tailored approaches that reflect local constraints and community values.

When culture and country shape strategy

The Blue Mountains is home to multiple Traditional Owner groups, the Gundungurra and Dharug peoples, and the Council has established strong governance and engagement structures to support their involvement. Cultural burning practices are supported, paid advisory groups are in place, and there’s now a legal requirement to consult under Indigenous Land Use Agreements for Crown Land planning.

These efforts underscore a genuine effort to embed Indigenous knowledge in land management – and while capacity and resources are always a challenge, the structures are there and growing.

Weathering what’s next

Looking ahead, the team is keeping a close eye on bushfire risk, landslips, and climate resilience. Matt noted that Blue Mountains had 70 landslip points flagged in recent years – and that current “1-in-100” disaster planning rules don’t always cut it anymore. As extreme weather ramps up, so too does the need to reassess the way infrastructure is designed and funded.

Still, despite these pressures, the team remains energised. There’s real pride in protecting what makes the Blue Mountains special – and in finding new ways to manage the region’s popularity without overwhelming its residents or natural systems.

Lessons in the landscape

For councils elsewhere, there’s plenty to take from the Blue Mountains approach:

• Plan for popularity: tourism brings benefits and burdens. Budget and advocate accordingly.
• Make heritage contemporary: character planning isn’t about freezing time, it’s about thoughtful evolution with a balance of built and natural heritage.
• Embed resilience early: from trails to town centres, build with future risks in mind.
• Recognise place-based policy limits: not every state policy works on the edge of a mountain escarpment.

Planning in the Blue Mountains is anything but ordinary – but that’s exactly what makes it inspiring.