Local Government NSW (LGNSW), the peak body representing councils across NSW, is again calling for stronger planning powers to control where tobacconists can open and to prevent clusters of outlets near schools and community facilities.
As tobacconists and vape stores continue to spread across NSW communities, LGNSW is restating its call for the NSW Government to require council approval via a development application (DA) before a new outlet can open.
Lane Cove Council made this call more than two and a half years ago, when councillors voted unanimously in March 2024 to seek this change, along with a ban on tobacconist and vape stores within 500 metres of a school in the Lane Cove local government area.
At a Glance
- LGNSW is again asking the NSW Government to require a DA before a new tobacconist or vape store can open.
- Lane Cove Council unanimously sought DA approval and a 500 metre school buffer in March 2024.
- A parliamentary inquiry report tabled on 20 August 2026 recommended consultation on reducing store numbers, capping licences and requiring development approval near schools. The NSW Government’s response is due by 20 November 2026.
- NSW introduced tobacco licensing in July 2025 and closure orders in November 2025. As of 23 October 2026, 514 short-term closure orders had been issued.
- Lane Cove still has three tobacco stores. The store at 73 Longueville Road had its front window smashed into in October 2024 and February 2025.
“Stop These Shops Popping Up Wherever They Like”
LGNSW President and Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne said requiring development consent would give councils a practical way to act before new stores opened.
“Councils need the power to stop these shops popping up wherever they like. This is about preventing the problem in the first place, instead of playing whack-a-mole and trying to shut stores down one by one after they are found to be selling illegal tobacco products,” Mayor Byrne said.
“Just last month, the NSW Health Minister Ryan Park noted that illegal tobacconists are still ‘flourishing in suburbs and communities across the state’.
“The simplest and most effective way to stop this is to give councils the power to stop them from opening their doors in the first place.
“The requirement for a DA would let councils consider where a tobacconist wants to open, how many are already nearby and how close it is to schools, childcare centres and community facilities.”
Mayor Byrne acknowledged the NSW Government had strengthened licensing and enforcement, but said that without stronger planning controls, the spread of these businesses would continue to spiral out of control.
“Licensing and enforcement are important, but they deal with a different part of the problem. Councils need stronger planning powers to make it harder for illegal operators to exploit loopholes and to make it easier for councils to safeguard their communities.
“I’ve just written to the NSW Planning Minister and Health Minister once again asking the NSW Government to work with councils to make development consent mandatory and give councils greater control over where these shops can open. We’ve continually proposed this common-sense solution to the NSW Government.
“The proliferation of tobacconists and vape stores isn’t isolated to one area in NSW. It’s a problem right across the state, in both metropolitan and regional communities.
“Councils know their communities. Give us the tools to act before another tobacco shop opens in the wrong place.”
Why Councils Can’t Stop a Tobacco Shop from Opening
Under NSW planning rules, tobacconists are generally treated as shops rather than as a separate category of development.
Where premises already have approval for retail use, a tobacconist may be able to open without obtaining a new development consent, depending on the existing approval and applicable planning controls.
This means councils may have limited opportunities to consider the concentration of tobacconists or their proximity to schools.
In its 2025 submission to the NSW Parliament’s inquiry into the illegal tobacco trade, LGNSW said changing the development application rules would most likely require amendments to the Standard Instrument Local Environmental Plan and the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008.
LGNSW’s and Northern Beaches Council also testified at the parliamentary inquiry hearings in December 2025. Its representatives explained that councils had limited visibility of tobacconist openings because the developments generally did not come through councils for assessment.
LGNSW also told the inquiry it had written to the Planning Minister in December 2024 and was advised that the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure was reviewing the planning pathways that apply to tobacconist stores.
The 2026 renewed call shows councils are still waiting for the outcome.
LGNSW has been equally clear that enforcement should stay with the NSW Government, warning against any attempt to shift that job onto council Environmental Health Officers, who are already in short supply.
What the Parliamentary Inquiry Recommended
The NSW Legislative Council’s Portfolio Committee No. 5 Justice and Communities, chaired by the Hon Robert Borsak MLC, tabled its report into the illegal tobacco trade on 20 August 2026. The report contains 16 findings and 11 recommendations including the following:
Recommendation Three
That the NSW Government undertake public consultation, including targeted consultation with local councils and small businesses, regarding proposals to:
- reduce the number of tobacconist stores in local government areas
- impose a cap on retail licenses
- require development approval for stores selling tobacco and other nicotine products near schools and community spaces.
The NSW Government’s formal response to the committee’s report is due by 20 November 2026.
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NSW Government Action So Far
The NSW Government has introduced a series of reforms over the past 18 months:
- Licensing: Since 1 July 2025, every tobacco retailer and wholesaler in NSW must hold a licence to sell tobacco and non-tobacco smoking products. This replaced the old retailer identification number (RIN) notification system.
- Closure orders: Since 3 November 2025, NSW Health can close a premises for up to 90 days if it is suspected of selling illicit tobacco, illegal vapes, or tobacco without a licence. The Local Court can order a closure of up to 12 months.
- Penalties: Selling illicit tobacco, or possessing a commercial quantity of it, carries a maximum penalty of $1.54 million, seven years’ imprisonment, or both.
- Landlords: A landlord can terminate a retail lease, on at least 28 days’ notice, if the premises is subject to a closure order. Landlords who knowingly allow the sale of illicit tobacco also face penalties.
According to the NSW Government, as of 23 October 2026, NSW Health inspectors had issued 514 short-term closure orders since the powers came into effect, with 129 still in force at that date.
Our local area was among the first to see the new powers used. On 4 November 2025, NSW Health inspectors, supported by NSW Police, issued 90-day closure orders against two St Leonards tobacco stores suspected of selling illicit tobacco or illegal vaping products. During the operation, inspectors seized 3,860 illicit cigarettes and 224 illegal vapes.
In the Cove reported on the closures. It did not go unnoticed that the stores were close to the NSW Department of Health offices.
Non-therapeutic vaping products cannot be sold by tobacconists, convenience stores or supermarkets. Nicotine vaping products are available only through a pharmacy.
Lane Cove Council Action on Tobacco Stores
Lane Cove Council has been raising the issue since 2023.
At its March 2023 meeting, Lane Cove Council passed a Mayoral Minute from then Mayor Andrew Zbik, asking NSW Health for help with local enforcement of the sale of vapes to minors and calling for a review of the licensing regime for tobacco sales. The Council also agreed to promote reporting of suspected sales to minors through Crimestoppers.
In February 2024, Councillor Katherine Mort moved a motion, seconded by Councillor David Brooks-Horn, calling on the NSW Planning Minister to ban vape sales (other than at pharmacies) within 500 metres of any school and to introduce a positive licensing scheme, and on the Federal Health Minister to urgently legislate further vape reforms.
Councillor Kathy Bryla, seconded by Councillor Merri Southwood, moved an amendment that went further, adding a call for a change of regulations so that tobacconist and vape stores in Lane Cove would need DA approval to open, with no tobacconist or vape store permitted within 500 metres of a school. The amendment also sought a cap on the number of these businesses in the LGA under a positive licensing scheme.
The amendment was carried six votes to three (Councillors Bennison, Brooks-Horn and Mort against) and then passed unanimously as the motion.
Following a notice of rescission, the matter returned to the 21 March 2024 Lane Cove Council meeting, where Council again resolved unanimously on a motion moved by Councillor Mort and seconded by Councillor Roenfeldt to:
- seek a change of regulations so that tobacconist and vape stores require DA approval to open in the Lane Cove LGA, with no such store within 500 metres of a school;
- write to the NSW Planning Minister, the Hon Paul Scully MP, advocating for a ban on vape sales (other than at a pharmacy) within 500 metres of any school in the LGA, a positive licensing scheme with a cap on the number of outlets, State support for the local planning changes, and a continued health promotion campaign with a focus on underage vaping;
- write to the Federal Health Minister, the Hon Mark Butler MP, and the then local federal member, Kylea Tink MP, supporting the federal vape reforms and urging further legislation banning the domestic manufacture, advertising, supply and commercial possession of non-therapeutic and disposable vapes; and
- receive a progress report at the May 2024 Council meeting (ITC has been unable to find a progress report but it may have been presented at another council meeting).
The resolution was supported by all nine councillors: Bennison, Southwood, Roenfeldt, Kennedy, Flood, Bryla, Brooks-Horn, Mort and Zbik.
Lane Cove was not alone. Inner West Council, led by Mayor Byrne, passed a near-identical Mayoral Minute in February 2024, and Hornsby Shire Council made a similar request to the Planning Minister in April 2024. Later that year, councils at the LGNSW Annual Conference backed a Shoalhaven City Council motion calling for development approval for tobacconists and the ability to cap and reduce their numbers.
Of the two main things Lane Cove asked NSW for, one has now been delivered. NSW has a tobacco licensing scheme. The other a DA approval and a buffer around schools have not.
The distinction is important. While the NSW Government can refuse or revoke tobacco licences and close premises for specified breaches, councils are seeking a separate planning power to determine whether a tobacconist should be permitted to open at a particular location in the first place.
Three Tobacco Retailers in Lane Cove
At the time of ITC’s November 2025 article, there were three tobacco shops in the Lane Cove Village area. At one stage there were four tobacco shops with one closing n 2023.
In November 2026 there are still three tobacco stores in Lane Cove
The tobacco shop at 73 Longueville Road had its front window smashed in October 2024 and February 2025.
| October 2024 Break-In | |
|---|---|
| Target | TSG Tobacco Station (73 Longueville Road). |
| Incident | The storefront windows were smashed during the early hours of the morning in a standard smash-and-grab style burglary. Extensive property damage occurred, with cigarettes and inventory targeted by the intruders. |
| February 2025 Ram Raid | |
| Target | TSG Tobacco Station (73 Longueville Road). |
| Incident | At approximately 3:50 AM on Wednesday, 5 February 2025, a black Volkswagen Golf, which had been stolen overnight from Emu Plains, was reversed directly through the front glass windows of the shop |
| Theft | CCTV footage captured two masked offenders leaping over the shattered façade and behind the main counter, stealing a haul of cigarettes and cash. |
| Police Response & Arrests | North Shore Police Area Command established an immediate crime scene. Police subsequently tracked the vehicle into Western Sydney, initiating a pursuit. The stolen vehicle was driven directly toward a police vehicle, injuring an officer, before two teenagers (a 15-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl) were arrested. |
How to Report a Retailer
If you suspect a retailer is selling illicit tobacco, illegal vapes, or selling to minors, you can lodge a complaint through the online reporting portal on the NSW Health website (health.nsw.gov.au/tobacco).
If the NSW Government introduces mandatory development consent for new tobacconists, Lane Cove Council would have a greater role in deciding where these businesses can operate. Depending on the final planning rules and notification requirements, residents may also have an opportunity to comment on proposed new outlets.
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