On 7 April 2025, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (Department) issued a new Planning Circular (PS 25-001) titled ‘Best practice consultation of draft conditions of consent prior to determination’ (Conditions Circular). The Conditions Circular has been prepared following…
UPDATE: High Court upholds common law principles of standing by persons with a “special interest”
14 Apr, 2025
In a recent decision, the High Court unanimously dismissed an appeal from the NSW Court of Appeal in an important case dealing with the common law principle of “standing” and the steps required to demonstrate a “special interest” in a…
Overview One of the key features of voluntary planning agreements (‘VPAs‘) under the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (‘EPA Act‘) is their potential to be used to enable communities to share in the benefits of development. This type…
Application of the In-fill Affordable Housing Bonus Provisions to Low and Mid-Rise Housing Areas
17 Mar, 2025
When the second stage of the low and mid-rise housing reforms commenced on 28 February 2025, the instrument that amended the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (Housing SEPP) did not make the in-fill affordable housing bonus provisions in Chapter 2…
A recent decision of the Land and Environment Court considers how the definition of ‘gross floor area’ (GFA) in the Standard Instrument Local Environment Plan (Standard Instrument) operates in respect of lifts and access to car parking areas. Gross Floor…
Amendments to the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 commenced today, following assent being given to the Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Biodiversity Offsets Scheme) Act 2024 in December 2024 (Amending Act). We detailed the amendments to the Act in our earlier post here. Some…
Low and Mid Rise Housing Policy Amendment to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021
3 Mar, 2025
As foreshadowed in our article on 23 February here, the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) Amendment (Low and Mid Rise Housing) 2025 (Amending SEPP) commenced operation on Friday 28 February 2025 to give effect to the second stage of the…
ALERT: Targeted Review of the Roads Act 1993
26 Feb, 2025
The NSW Government has announced a targeted review of the Roads Act 1993 (Act) to ensure the Act is fit-for-purpose and adaptable for the future. Transport for NSW has developed an Issues Paper that outlines the process and intended scope…
ALERT: Second Stage of Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy – Low and Mid-rise Housing Areas
23 Feb, 2025
The much anticipated low and mid-rise housing reform, the delivery of a second stage to the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy (Policy), is anticipated to commence on 28 February 2025. The reform is the second stage of the NSW Government’s…
Yesterday, a Bill to amend the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Act) was introduced by the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces to NSW Parliament. The Minister stated that the Bill is to support the delivery of housing and…
On 24 January, the NSW Government released the Industrial Lands Action Plan (Plan). The Plan aims to establish a coordinated, statewide approach to planning, securing and managing the supply of industrial lands across NSW. In the Plan the term ‘industrial…
In late 2024, we blogged about the announcement of the new Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) by the NSW state government (see here). The HDA is now operational, having been established on 19 December 2024 by the Environmental Planning and Assessment…