50 Busby Street Planning Proposal

*Public Exhibition now closed*

A Planning Proposal in relation to land at 50 Busby Street (PP-2024-418), South Bathurst, was on Public Exhibition for a period of 28 days from Monday 17 November 2025 to Monday 15 December 2025. Council received submissions from 97 persons in relation to the 34 Busby Street Planning Proposal, inclusive of submissions made toward the 34 and 50 Busby Street Planning Proposals. Council also received a paper and a digital petition in relation to the Planning Proposals.

A Submissions Summary, which summarises key issues that were raised, and copies of all submissions made, including the petitions, can be found in the Documents Library.

The Planning Proposal relates to 50 Busby Street, South Bathurst, Lot 212 DP1289265 which currently contains the former St Catherine’s Nursing Home and Aged Care Facility which has been vacant since 2017.

The Planning Proposal seeks to rezone the site from R1 General Residential to R3 Medium Density Residential to allow a mix of townhouses and apartments, with building heights up to 16 metres. It also proposes a small café or food and drink use, and requires a detailed site-specific Development Control Plan to ensure high-quality design. The changes aim to revitalise a long-vacant site and support more diverse housing options close to services while maintaining South Bathurst’s character and heritage values.

(Figure 1 - Proposed Master Plan of the site showing a potential output of the Planning Proposal. This Master Plan should not be taken as the definitive end result. The Planning Proposal only relates to the planning laws that may lead to the development of the site for the purposes of medium density housing and associated small commercial uses.)

The proposed amendments involve the following:

Please note that the Planning Proposal does not approve the development. The Planning Proposal only seeks to amend the Planning Controls to facilitate development of the site as proposed in the concept Master Plan. Council is not considering the concept master plan as the final design of the development as this is expected to change in response to community feedback and design guidelines incorporated into the recommended site-specific DCP, should the Planning Proposal progress to adoption.

Stages of a Planning Proposal

The table below outlines the 6 key stages of a Planning Proposal that have or will be undertaken as the Planning Proposals proceed. Further information about the process to amend a Local Environmental Plan are available at the Department's Local Plan Making Guidelines:

https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-03/lep-making-guideline.pdf

Council's Community Participation Plan guides how Council will exhibit the Planning Proposals:

https://www.bathurst.nsw.gov.au/files/assets/public/v/2/council/plans-policies/bathurst-regional-community-participation-plan-am-3.pdf

What is the Planning Proposal seeking to do?

The Planning Proposal at 50 Busby Street, South Bathurst, proposes to deliver increased supply of rarer housing typologies into the Bathurst housing market, particularly 1- and 2-bedrooms in townhouse and apartment formats.

• The projected population is 239 persons.
• The projected dwelling density is 200 persons per site hectare.
• The expected yield is approximately 97 dwellings, including 34 townhouses and 63 apartments.

The Planning Proposal seeks to contribute significantly to housing diversity and choice in a location close to community and educational facilities and within reasonable proximity to the CBD. Whether the Planning Proposal is able to deliver affordable dwellings is a matter that is not easily determined at this time given that amenity and market factors, and the noise attenuation that may be required to mitigate potential impacts from the Mount Panorama Racing Circuit may influence the price point above acceptable affordability levels. Nonetheless it will improve housing diversity and choice.

An Additional Permitted Use (APU) under Schedule 1 of the LEP is sought to support the inclusion of food and drink premises which would otherwise be prohibited in the proposed R3 Medium Density Residential zone. Council has recommended that the APU should be restricted to a maximum floor area of 150m² consistent with the existing floor area limitation imposed on a neighbourhood shop, and that all food and drink tenancies on the site to no more than 300m².The recommendation for the treatment of the APU is consistent with the LEP amendment proposed at the adjacent 34 Busby Street site.

Council has assessed the proposal as being generally consistent with Council, State and Regional strategic plans and strategies.

Council’s assessment of the Planning Proposal has, however, highlighted the need for independent Peer Reviews/Independent Assessments of the submitted Traffic and Noise Impact Assessments to ensure the Planning Proposal is consistent with the objectives of the Bathurst 2036 Housing Strategy and Vision Bathurst 2040 – the Bathurst Region Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS). The Peer Reviews are recommended to ensure Council fully understands:

• The potential impacts of noise from the Mount Panorama racing circuit on the proposed development and whether any impacts can be appropriately mitigated.
• The potential for noise impacts from the new medium density housing on the existing residential neighbourhood.
• The potential for noise impacts from the adaptive reuse of the former St Joseph's Mount (Logan Brae) site on adjoining proposed medium density housing and vice versa.
• The ability for the local road network to support traffic generation from the proposed development.

To ensure design excellence is achieved, Council is seeking the inclusion of a new local provision to be inserted in the LEP, as part of the Planning Proposal, that requires a site-specific Development Control Plan (DCP) to be in place before development consent can be granted. As part of the site-specific DCP chapter, Council anticipates that design excellence development controls similar to those found in Schedule 9 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 (Housing SEPP) of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment's Apartment Design Guide, will be developed and implemented before development consent can be issued on the site.

The Planning Proposal does not approve the development. The Planning Proposal only seeks to amend the Planning Controls to facilitate development of the site as proposed in the concept Master Plan.

Council is not considering the concept master plan as the final design of the development as this is expected to change in response to design guidelines incorporated into the recommended site-specific DCP. At this stage, Council is not endorsing the design or final arrangement of building envelopes of the development as presented in the Master Plan.

A preliminary assessment of the documentation submitted with each of the Planning Proposals has been undertaken and presented to the Ordinary Council Meeting on 19 June 2024 where Council resolved to forward both proposals to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) requesting a Gateway Determination of the Planning Proposal.

A ‘Gateway Determination’ is a preliminary assessment by DPHI of each proposal to determine if the proposals can progress to public exhibition, and if so, what conditions need to be met either before or as part of the public exhibition process. In considering this matter Council requested several conditions be imposed before public exhibition commences.

Gateway Determination has been received for the Planning Proposal that relates to 50 Busby Street. Council must now ensure that the relevant conditions of the Gateway Determination are met before public exhibition can commence.

Importantly, at this stage, Council is NOT endorsing:

• The design of the development of each site.
• The proposed building envelopes that might eventuate to increase building height.
• The resultant residential density.

The reports for the Planning Proposal to the June 2024 Council meeting and the Gateway Determination documents are included in the document library.

Traffic and Noise impact Assessment - August 2025 update

Council, at its meeting held 20 August 2025, considered a report that presented the results of the Independent Traffic Impact Assessment, Independent Noise Impact Assessment and associated Peer Review Reports that have been obtained in response to the conditions of the Gateway Determinations for the two separate Planning Proposals lodged in respect of 34 and 50 Busby Street, South Bathurst.

A Fact Sheet has been prepared that provides a summary of the report as presented to Council. The Fact Sheet and the full Council report can be viewed in the document library. The detailed attachments to the Council report can also be viewed in the document library.

The following additional documents have been added to the document library:

• Fact Sheet - Traffic and Noise Impact Assessments for Planning Proposals Lodged at 34 And 50 Busby St, South Bathurst.
• Council report to the meeting held 20 August 2025.
• Clause 7.6 of the Bathurst Regional Local Environmental Plan 2014.
• Traffic Impact Assessment Peer Review Report for 34 and 50 Busby Street, South Bathurst.
• Independent Traffic Impact Assessment for 34 and 50 Busby Street, South Bathurst (appendices are not included due to file size but can be provided upon request).
• Transport for NSW (TfNSW) response to referrals for both Planning Proposals.
• Noise Impact Assessment Peer Review Report for 34 and 50 Busby Street, South Bathurst.
• Independent Noise Impact Assessment for 34 and 50 Busby Street, South Bathurst.
• NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) response to referrals for both Planning Proposals.
• Draft Mount Panorama Environs Map (under clause 7.6 of the LEP).
• Draft Heritage Map (under the Bathurst Regional Local Environmental Plan 2014).