[ IN FOCUS ]
Changes to POEO (Noise Control) Regulations
The Protection of the Environment Operations (Noise Control) Regulation 2026 (2026 Noise Control Regulation) commenced on 28 August 2026, repealing and replacing the 2017 Noise Control Regulation. The 2026 Noise Control Regulation retains the framework for controlling common sources of…
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ALERT: Updates to native vegetation provisions from 31 August 2026
By 1 September 2026, two key changes will have been made to the implementation of the Local Land Services Act 2013 (the LLS Act), in particular with respect to the regulation of native vegetation clearing in certain non-urban areas of…
Where to from here? Legislative Assembly Committee releases report on Historical Development Consents
In July 2026, the NSW Legislative Assembly Committee on Environment and Planning (Committee) published the report on its inquiry into Historical Development Consents (Report). The Report deals with the issues raised by so called “zombie developments”, which the Committee finds…
ALERT: New Discussion Papers on Development Assessment and Conditions of Consent
On 2 July 2026, the NSW Government released two consultation papers: the Improving Development Assessment Discussion Paper (DA Discussion Paper) and the Standard and Model Conditions of Consent: Explanation of Intended Effect (Conditions EIE). Each addresses a familiar aspect of…
Proposed Amendments to the Resilience and Hazards SEPP to Improve Coastal Management
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure is exhibiting proposed amendments to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 (RH SEPP), and other legislation, described as providing clarity on existing provisions relating to: coastal subdivisions and boundary adjustments,…
Switching off covenants and restrictions – revisiting the operation of clause 1.9A
A recent decision of the NSW Supreme Court provides a timely example of the operation of clause 1.9A – a clause contained in many LEPs which can operate to suspend or override restrictive covenants. Relevantly, clause 19.A(1) provides: (1) For…
Dedication of public roads- a recent illustration of the principles
Under the Roads Act 1993, the procedures for dedicating land as a public, or identifying land historically created as a public road, are clear and relatively simple. However, it was not always so. In particular, before the creation of the…
ALERT: Planning System Reforms Bill passes both Houses of Parliament
Yesterday, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning System Reforms) Bill 2025 (Bill) was passed by the New South Wales Parliament. Since the first text of the Bill was released, a number of amendments have been made to the text of the…
ALERT: Bill to reform the NSW planning system and amend the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act
This morning, the New South Wales government announced a potentially sweeping set of changes to the existing planning system. The ministerial press release came ahead of the first print and indicated that the proposed NSW Planning System Reforms Bill 2025…
Further development in the law regarding the meanings of “land and “use”
In previous In Focus articles, we have considered cases dealing with the variable meaning of the word “land” in different statutory contexts. In the planning context, the word “land” is generally concerned with a physical, three-dimensional tract of the earth’s…