Topic: building setbacks

The Department of Environment has insisted that its statement and interactive map, which outlined its recommendations on planning applications of storm-damaged properties, was not an 'I told you so' exercise. Instead, it hopes it will make people reflect on the need for more effective setback regulations.

The Department of Environment, in a statement and interactive map, has outlined how its advice and recommendations on coastal setbacks were ignored in the planning process of several of the properties that sustained damage in last week's destructive nor'wester.