Groundwater Housing Risk Factors for Building Approvals in Greater Metropolitan Region

A geospatial dataset supporting housing approvals by assessing groundwater-related environmental risks. It integrates six input layers—acid sulphate soils, contaminated sites, groundwater works, water features, groundwater dependent ecosystems, and groundwater systems—to produce an overall risk layer. The dataset is published by Spatial Services (DCS) and was last updated on 2026-05-13.

Use Cases

• Identify high-risk areas for acid sulphate soils prior to construction based on the described input layer.
• Screen building development sites for proximity to known contaminated sites using the contaminated sites risk layer.
• Assess potential impact on groundwater dependent ecosystems as part of environmental impact statements.
• Prioritize planning applications by overlaying the overall groundwater risk layer with proposed development zones.

Strengths

• Integrates six distinct environmental risk factors into a single analytical layer.
• Explicitly supports a specific policy framework, the NSW Aquifer Interference Policy.
• Accompanied by a detailed method report explaining the analysis of subordinate input layers.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and spatial resolution are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on the Greater Metropolitan Region.

Provenance

Source

Spatial Services (DCS)

Collection Method

Analysis and integration of multiple geospatial input layers, as described in the accompanying method report.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-13 05:02:46.517048; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Greater Metropolitan Region, New South Wales, Australia