Late last year, the NSW State Government announced ambitious plans to change the planning laws in NSW. Two major policy changes were the Transport-Orientated Development Area programme and the Diverse and Well-Located Homes policy.
The new policy that will have the most significant impact on the Lane Cove LGA is the Diverse and Well Located Homes policy, and an implementation date has not been announced. At one stage, the NSW planning page referred to the second half of 2025, but that date has been removed.
The start date was initially flagged for 1 July 2024, but it has been pushed back—one announcement said 1 July 2025, and a later one said “late 2024.”
It now seems that a reference to a date has been removed.
The TOD will, however, impact the St Leonards (South) portion of the Lane Cove LGA.
Transport Orientated Development
The NSW State Government has released its plans for the Crows Nest Transport-Orientated Development (TOD) Area, an accelerated precinct in the Crows Nest/St Leonards area.
As a TOD accelerated precinct, the Crows Nest/St Leonards areas (see map above) will also have access to departmental-driven changed planning rules unique to those in the precinct to accelerate the delivery of homes and jobs. The planned changes are now publicly displayed (click here for more details).
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment press release notes:
“The Crows Nest TOD Accelerated Precinct rezoning proposal will allow for a variety of residential and non-residential land uses within walking distance of train and metro stations. The Crows Nest TOD Accelerated Precinct is in an area earmarked for growth and renewal through the St Leonards and Crows Nest 2036 Plan.
It will also increase the amount of affordable housing near to Royal North Shore Hospital, one of the largest general hospitals in Australia; and implement the recommendations of the St Leonards and Crows Nest 2036 Plan.
It is proposed that housing across the precinct will be focused within St Leonards Centre and along the spine of the Pacific Highway to the Crows Nest Metro Station, which is planned to open from 4 August. This will help activate the highway for new investment and new business opportunities.
The rezoning proposal includes a mandatory affordable housing requirement of 10-15 per cent in all new residential development, to be held in perpetuity and managed by a registered Community Housing Provider (CHP).
In addition, the proposed plans identify six sites with the capacity to deliver 15 percent affordable housing through incentives such as height and floor space ratios.
Public spaces, vibrancy and amenities will be provided through improved walking and active transport links and direct access to existing open space at Gore Hill Oval, Newlands Park and Hume Street Park.”
Further information is here, and you can click on the map here. To read the intended effect of these changes, click here.
The map above has an area hatched in purple and it appears that any accelerated planning changes will only apply to the area in purple to start with. However, this does not mean that in the future, the State Government may not apply the same rules in the whole precinct area.
The map below shows the first area to have the new controls applied.
If you would like to comment on the plans, you must comment by 5pm 16 August 2024 – the link to submit comments is here.
Low and Mid-Rise Density Reform – When Will Those Changes Be Implemented?
The low- and mid-rise reforms are proposed to facilitate a greater variety of housing types to be built in well-located areas across the Sydney, Central Coast, Illawarra and Hunter regions. The reforms will be done in 2 stages.
Stage One – Dual Occupancies allowed in all R2 Low Density Residental Zones in NSW
Originally it was proposed that, from 1 July 2024, there would be a blanket minimum lot size of 450 sqm for dual occupancies on all R2 land in the LGA.
It appears that DPIE is now allowing councils time to develop their own minimum lot size requirements. From 1 July 2025, minimum non-discretionary lot sizes may be forced on Councils that have not addressed the Department’s dual occupancy objectives.
So, in the meantime, the status quo in Lane Cove will not change. The minimum land size for a dual occupancy in Lane Cove is 750 square metres for dual occupancy (attached) and 900 square metres for dual occupancy (detached).
Stage 2 – 800 m from Town Centre
In stage 2 (the implementation date will be announced later in 2024), the planning laws will be updated to:
- introduce the concept of ‘station and town centre precincts’ as the basis for ‘well-located areas’, where density will be encouraged. Particular town centres and stations within Sydney, Central Coast, Illawarra, and the Hunter region will be identified in the SEPP, and town centres will be mapped. An 800 m walking distance from the town centre or station will be where the policy will apply.
- expand the permissibility of the other low- and mid-rise housing types as follows:
- Multi-dwelling housing (terraces and townhouses) in the station and town centre precincts in zones R1, R2, and R3.
- Mid-rise apartment buildings in station and town centre precincts in zones R3 and R4.
- facilitate and encourage the above housing types (including for dual occupancies) by introducing new development standards, such as building heights, floor space ratios and minimum lot sizes, within the station and town centre precincts
When the planning changes were first announced there was confusion as to where the 800m rule would start from. Planning will identify specific stations and centres where the rules will apply (that could be a long list). The 800m walking distance will remain the outer threshold and will not be mapped, leaving it to developers and home owners and Councils to calculate.
The NSW government has said that the proposed controls will maintain local character and the viability of employment centres by excluding the application of the reforms within the employment/town centres themselves (i.e. the E1, E2, MU1 and SP5 zones) – this maintains detailed strategic planning work many councils have done in these zones and avoids many areas with heritage value. This means that buildings in Lane Cove Village around the plaza which are in the E1 zone will not be subject to the new rules.
By moving the impact of planning changes beyond Lane Cove Village, it is unclear what the push to create more medium-density dwellings will be on nearby streets within the 800 m circle (such as Austin Street and Kara Street).
Stage 2 will not come into effect until the second half of 2024. This will allow councils time to prepare for introducing the policy or progress equivalent important planning work to boost housing supply.
A list of different zones and their objectives is available at NSW legislation.
What Type of Housing Will Be Allowed?
For background on the changes and what was originally proposed by the NSW State Government read our article here.
