Outcome of Extraordinary Council meeting

17 June 2024

June 2024 update

At its Extraordinary Council meeting held on 17 June 2024 Council resolved to submit the Planning Proposal for the creation of a new, consolidated Local Environmental Plan (LEP) to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces for ‘Gateway Determination’ under Section 3.34 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Click on the link below to read the minutes.

It is a legal requirement that both Council and the Minister formally consider the Planning Proposal before it can be placed on public exhibition for community feedback.

The Planning Proposal is informed by several years of policy development by Council, advice from the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, and community submissions received to date on Council’s LEP Discussion Paper and Conservation Zones Review.

The community will be asked for input on the Planning Proposal once the Minister has endorsed its exhibition and subject to any Ministerial requirements being met. We anticipate public exhibition will occur in early 2025.

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About the Planning Proposal and LEP

The Planning Proposal outlines contents of the proposed LEP and the justification for the proposed development controls. It also includes maps that show land use zones across the Northern Beaches, as well as land use tables that define how the land in each zone can be used (‘permissible uses’).

An LEP is a state government requirement for all local government areas to guide land use planning and development decisions within the area.

Until now, we have been managing land use and development through four separate LEPs of the former council areas, including the Deferred Lands LEP that applies to Oxford Falls Valley and Belrose North. The new, consolidated LEP for the Northern Beaches will be complemented by a new comprehensive Development Control Plan (DCP), which is being developed in parallel to the LEP.

The primary purpose of the new LEP is to harmonise existing planning rules across the area to ensure consistency and fairness in planning. The LEP will also introduce some new controls to better respond to the community’s aspirations and strategic priorities for the Northern Beaches. These include (and are not limited to) provisions for protecting urban character in our centres and facilitating environmental sustainability outcomes for large-scaled developments.

The LEP is separate to the NSW Government’s recently proposed changes to low- and mid-rise housing controls, which are yet to take effect. Council is meeting separately with the Department to discuss the impacts of these proposals.

Once approved by Council and updated to meet Gateway conditions by the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, the draft LEP will be exhibited for public comment. The draft LEP will then be amended as required and will only commence following the further approval of Council and the Minister.

Project updates 2024

Council has resolved to hold an Extraordinary Council Meeting on 17 June to consider submitting the LEP Planning Proposal to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces for ‘Gateway Determination’, which is a legally required review point before a Planning Proposal can be exhibited for public comment.

The Council meeting followed the consideration of the LEP Planning Proposal by the Independent Northern Beaches Local Planning Panel at its meeting on 23 May 2024.

The LEP Planning Proposal outlines contents of the draft LEP and the justification for the proposed development controls. It also includes maps that show proposed land use zones across the Northern Beaches, as well as land use tables that identify the types of land uses that are permissible in each zone.


Building our sustainable future

The Planning Proposal and proposed LEP have been informed by extensive technical and spatial analysis as well as community engagement, including the Local Strategic Planning StatementToward 2040, the Local Housing Strategy, the LEP/DCP Discussion Paper and the Conservation Zones Review.