Posted on May 1, 2024 by Megan Hawley 16

SUPERCEDED Transport Oriented Development Maps Released

This article has been superceded. For current information regarding the Transport Oriented Development Maps please see our article published on 14 May 2024.

On Monday I published an article on the insertion of the Transport Oriented Development provisions (TOD Provisions) into the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (Housing SEPP). The article can be accessed  here.

At the time of writing that article, I noted that the mapping of the ‘Transport Oriented Development Area‘ (TOD Area), within which the new provisions apply, was not yet available.

The mapping has now been released and can be accessed through the NSW Planning Spatial Viewer here. To switch on the TOD mapping, and as the TOD Provisions have not yet commenced, it is necessary to turn on the layer for ‘Notified Amendments with Deferred Commencement’, and then select the Housing SEPP and then the “TOD SEPP”.

Two options are then provided. One is ‘Transport Oriented Development Site Map – Transport Oriented Development Area‘ (TOD Area).  Selecting this box generates a red circle (see image at the end of the article) with a (presumably) 400m radius from a single point within the relevant railway station.

As the TOD Provisions apply within the TOD Area, they apply within the red circle. As noted in my article on Monday, the operative provisions making certain residential development permissible and prescribing the height and FSR standards for that development, only apply to certain zones within the TOD Area.

The second option on the mapping is ‘Transport Oriented Development Site Map – Transport Oriented Development Sites’ (TOD Sites). Selecting this box then highlights some properties in blue (again, see image below). There is no definition of a ‘Transport Oriented Development Site’ in the TOD Provisions. I understand that the blue highlighting reflects the zoning of sites within the TOD Area, and so only those sites within the TOD Area and within zones to which the operative parts of the TOD Provisions apply, are highlighted blue.

There are also a number of other lots within the red circle and therefore within the TOD Area, and which fall within the relevant zones, that are not shaded blue. These sites appear to correspond to sites on which there is a heritage item (either local or State listed).

This reflects the information the Department of Planning Housing and Infrastructure has released on its website, but does not reflect the TOD Provisions. The TOD Provisions do not state that they do not apply to sites on which there is a heritage item.

In my article yesterday I raised some issues about how the TOD Area was defined as the intention was to include land within 400m of a relevant railway station or metro station, and how it would apply to lots only partly within the TOD Area.

As noted above the TOD Area has been defined in the mapping as within a circle, so the 400m has been measured from a single point at the relevant railway station. Landowners with sites within 400m of one extremity of a station may have expected to have the benefit of the TOD Provisions. However, it is possible their sites may not be within the red circle shown on the mapping, and therefore not within the TOD Area, given the approach taken.

Some lots which are partly within and partly outside of the red circle (and therefore only partly within the TOD Area) are entirely shaded blue and shown as TOD Sites – this can be seen on the image below. This suggests that land only partly within the TOD Area is intended to have the benefit of the TOD Provisions. However, this is not clearly reflected in the text of the TOD Provisions.

If you wish to determine if the TOD Provisions will apply to your property, I recommend selecting the TOD Area layer to determine if you are within the red circle, and then separately check the zoning of your land against the zones referred to in the TOD Provisions themselves, and reviewing the text of the TOD Provisions, rather than relying on the blue shaded TOD Sites. The designation of TOD Sites currently has no legal effect.

The TOD Provisions are linked again here.

See the application of the Transport Oriented Development Site Map near Roseville Station, showing both the TOD Area (area within the red circle) and the TOD Sites (shaded blue) below:

 

Please do not hesitate to contact Megan Hawley on 8235 9703 or leave a comment if you have any questions.