The City of Canada Bay is fortunate to have many areas with a strong sense of local character. Council has been working to introduce planning controls that are intended to manage change in these unique local areas to ensure the look and feel is preserved as they undergo change.

Over the past few years, Council has been working to introduce planning controls to protect certain features of specific areas that the community has identified as having unique local character. Work undertaken was consistent with advice published by the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) about the need and ways to protect local character.

However, in August of 2022, Council’s Planning Proposal to introduce local character areas into the Local Environmental Plan (LEP) was refused at Gateway.

More recently, Council investigated alternative options to protect the character of local places via an amendment to State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt & Complying Development Codes) 2008. However, DPE has confirmed that this would not be supported.

It therefore now appears that DPE is no longer supportive of the protection of local character via Local Environmental Plans. This leaves Council with no ability to introduce planning controls that would assist in protecting the character or streetscape of low-density precincts throughout the City of Canada Bay, except by creating additional Heritage Conservation Areas (HCAs). However, controls for HCAs are generally more onerous that Council was intending for the Local Character Areas.

The reason for this is because controls in Council’s DCP cannot prevent or even influence development approvals that are granted as complying development, as complying development is assessed and approved under State Government planning controls, not Council’s local controls.

Previous local character work undertaken

Council has to date submitted two planning proposals to DPE that sought to introduce Local Character Areas into the Canada Bay LEP. The planning proposals sought to establish principles that new development would need to address to complement the local character of identified localities.

The first Local Character Areas Planning Proposal was withdrawn upon the advice of DPE, to allow Council to undertake further assessment. The second Local Character Areas Planning Proposal was refused at Gateway “as consensus could not be reached within the NSW Government regarding the introduction of a model clause for Local Character to the standard instrument LEP.”

Since then, Council Officers have met with staff from DPE to discuss the potential to vary State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt & Complying Development Codes) 2008 for Complying Development undertaken in the City of Canada Bay. The aim was to introduce certain design requirements that would apply to Complying Development (dwelling houses and dual occupancies) in select areas of the LGA. The requirements would be minor in nature and would not impact the development potential of the land. They would, for example, require pitched roofs in place of flat roofs, or the use of certain materials.

However, Council was subsequently advised by DPE that any such request would not be supported as “local variations in different LGAs across the state for design elements … is likely to put the Codes policy objectives at risk”.