Draft policy - Planning instrument amendments and refund of fees
Council has in place a range of planning instruments that from time to time require major review or amendment, instigated either by Council or by private property owners. These include:
- Local Environmental Plans (LEP)
- Development Control Plans (DCP)
The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 establishes the way in which each planning instrument can be made and amended.
In relation to the preparation of a Local Environmental Plan or an amendment to an LEP, the Department of Planning’s Local Environmental Plan Making Guideline provides further guidance on the planning proposal process, being the process required to prepare or amend the LEP.
Applications to amend the LEP are lodged through the NSW Planning Portal.
Applications to amend the DCP are made directly to Council.
Fees and charges for applications to amend (or create new) planning instruments are payable in accordance with the rates specified in Council’s annual Revenue Policy. These rates are subject to annual review.
Council has reviewed its policy “Planning Instrument Amendments and Refund of Fees”. The policy establishes the criteria upon which planning instrument amendments will be classified in regard to the application fees payable and a method of calculation for fee refunds where amendments do not proceed.
Policy Review
A review of the policy has identified that the policy is still relevant. The review recommends the following key changes to the current policy:
Simplify the policy.
The current policy outlines in detail the process to amend Council’s Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and/or Council’s Development Control Plan (DCP). The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 establishes the way in which each planning instrument can be made and amended. In relation to the preparation of a Local Environmental Plan or an amendment to an LEP, the NSW Department of Planning’s Local Environmental Plan Making Guideline provides further guidance on the planning proposal process, being the process required to prepare or amend the LEP.
This information need not be repeated in Council’s policy and so has been deleted from the revised draft policy.
Removal of references to a Development Contribution Plan
The current policy applies to the preparation of a new or an amendment to an existing Development Contribution Plan. As the costs of preparing/amending a Development Contribution Plan can be recovered from the plan itself it is considered that Council needs no longer include a fee for this service in its Revenue Policy and so does not need to include Development Contribution Plans within the revised draft policy. The relevant change will be made to the 2024/25 Revenue Policy.
Classification of amendments to the LEP and/or DCP
The revised draft policy seeks to simplify and clarify the way in which an amendment to the LEP and/or DCP may be classified in terms of the scale of fee that would be payable under Council’s revenue policy.
The current policy classifies an LEP/DCP amendment as a minor or major amendment.
The revised draft policy proposes to classify an LEP/DCP amendment as either a minor, standard or major/complex amendment (refer to part 3.0 of the draft policy).
The revised draft policy provides that the Director Environmental Planning and Building Services will determine the classification category based on the matters included in part 3.0 of the revised draft policy.
Revised LEP and DCP amendment fees based on this new categorisation are proposed to be introduced as part of the 2024/25 Revenue Policy.
Timing of Payments of Fees
Currently, Council takes one fee for an amendment to its LEP or DCP at the time the application to amend the LEP/DCP is formally lodged with Council. In most instances Council has already undertaken significant investigation into the proposal to amend the planning instrument and provided significant advice to the applicant.
The revised draft policy therefore proposes that the fee be payable at two stages throughout the process:
- Stage 1 – At pre-lodgement – prior to Council undertaking any investigative work/providing any advice.
- Stage 2 – when a formal application to amend the plan has been made.
This approach is consistent with the approach taken by most other councils in NSW and will ensure that Council resources are being compensated at the time when those resources are being committed to assist applicants.
It is proposed that transitional arrangements also be put in place such that where Council has been in pre-lodgement with an applicant prior to the adoption of the revised draft policy the pre-lodgement fee will be payable upon lodgement of the relevant amendment application where Council’s Revenue Policy, at that time, includes a pre-lodgement fee.
The revised fees for LEP and DCP amendments are proposed to be introduced as part of the 2024/25 Revenue Policy.
New GIS/Mapping Fee
A major component of many LEP/DCP amendments is mapping which takes up considerable Council resources. The NSW Department of Planning has ceased providing GIS support to councils for LEP mapping.
The revised draft policy proposes the introduction of new GIS fee/s to offset the resources Council expends on mapping amendments to its LEP and DCP.
The new GIS fee/s are proposed to be introduced as part of the 2024/25 Revenue Policy.
Refund of Fees
The way in which the refund of fees may be offered where an application to amend the LEP and/or DCP has been withdrawn by the applicant or rejected by Council at some point in the amendment process has been revised and updated to better align with the resources that have been committed by Council at that stage in the process. The pre-lodgement fee will be non-refundable once investigations by Council have commenced.
A copy of the revised draft policy is provided in the document library.
Public Exhibition:
The draft policy is on public exhibition from 22 April 2024 to 20 May 2024. Council invites submissions on the draft policy which must be lodged with Council no later than Monday 20 May 2024.
Enquiries should be directed to Council’s Environmental Planning and Building Services Dept.