Woody Extent Vegetation - Cessnock LGA. VIS ID 5123

The Department of Planning provides support to Local Government to enable evidence-based planning decisions. Biodiversity and Conservation Division collaborated with Cessnock City Council in 2021-2022 to deliver environmental map layers (Environmental Lands Study) that facilitate council’s review of their Local Environment Plan. This dataset is one of those and delineates woody vegetation at fine scale across the 196,468-hectare Cessnock Local Government Area (LGA). All tenures were mapped excluding National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) estate because they are formally reserved and protected under Local Environment Plans and were outside of the scope of the Environmental Lands Study. Data is in vector format and was produced to a scale range of 1:500 – 1:3000 and captures individual trees or shrubs with diameters down to 3m whilst excluding and eliminating shadow effects. The dataset is an accurate fine-scale baseline woody dataset for the Cessnock LGA that is current with the image dates of 2017-19 in the east and 2011 for a small area in the far west. From here on the layer will require maintenance and updating as landuse and landcover changes over time. However, the layer’s accuracy means that maintenance and update requirements are minimal in terms of mapping expertise and resources. Either field verified data or newer high-resolution imagery can be used to perform maintenance and updating of the layer.