LOWER Macquarie landholders have expressed their disappointment with the recent changes to state government policy surrounding the notification of flood work approvals.

Under recent amendments to the Water Management Regulations 2018, approval applications that require advertising from WaterNSW and the National Regulator Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) are no longer required to be featured in local newspapers in addition to their own websites.

The amendments were first proposed by previous NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey late last year, before being approved by the NSW Governor Margaret Beazley on 8 December 2021 and coming into effect two days later.

A spokesperson from the Department of Planning and Environment said the reason for the amendment came down to legal complications.

Before the rule change, WaterNSW and NRAR were required to advertise approval applications exclusively in hard copy newspapers," the spokesperson said.

"While there is now a legal requirement to advertise approval applications online, the policy does not prohibit WaterNSW and NRAR advertising in local newspapers.”

"The legal requirement reflects a move to a digital service offering designed to better serve customers and increase transparency across NSW by no longer being limited by geographic range and publication schedules," the spokesperson said.

Advertised applications will now only appear for the required 28 days on the respective agency's website.

NRAR and WaterNSW first placed a notification about the changes on their websites and through ads in newspapers last month.

However, for President of the Macquarie Marshes Environmental Landholders Association, Garry Hall, the notification coming in after the amendment was already in place showed a "complete lack of transparency" on the part of the government.

"We're pretty disappointed with the amendment and it's timing - we didn't even know about it until that notification in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago," Mr Hall said.

"(The reason behind it) is a load of rot. Flood work approvals are important for implementing the floodplain harvesting policy and this is just the government covering that up."

With this advertising no longer required to appear in local newspapers, Mr Hall said it wouldn't surprise him to see a loss of income for regional media.

"(The notices) was the only reason we actually received the local paper from Warren, to make sure things weren't occurring without our knowledge," he said.

"It's also one of the few times (local newspapers) can get an ad that's not coming from the local community. 

“Roy Butler is aware of the recent amendments to clause 26 Section 7 of the water management regulation 2018 and hopefully is bringing this up with the new water minister,” Mr Hall said.

Locals have also raised concerns about having to constantly check the websites for applications that apply to them.

A spokesperson from WaterNSW said a free, weekly email notification service should address these concerns.

"(Using the system), registered subscribers can receive a wider range of advertised information faster and more reliably," they said. 

"This new system will provide information to an audience not limited by the geographic range and publication schedule of individual newspaper outlets."

According to the Department of Planning and Environment spokesperson, the public will have the opportunity to provide feedback on this new service through a link in the weekly notifications or via the WaterNSW website.

When asked for his thoughts on this system, Mr Hall said he would sign up for when it was actually up and running but that emails do not replace having notices made public in newspapers.

“The over-riding message is that the wider community, including many of those downstream from any flood works who could be affected, will miss out on this information,” he said.