3rd June, 2025.
I speak on a number of matters that seem unconnected at first but are the same kind of problem that affects many communities, underlies our planning system and needs to be fixed. The problem is one of the planning powers. It is about who actually has the power to govern what takes place. I am not talking about individual developments. I am talking about matters in which the community expects one thing but gets delivered something completely different: the approval of developments that are outside of the ordinary, which lead to the biggest disputes. This is why the New South Wales Government created a standard template for development control plans [DCPs], local environmental plans [LEPs] and State environmental planning policies [SEPPs]. The issue is that, when these were created, the councils created their own versions, which should apply, one would assume, the same rules, but it is not just a copy and paste. However, the complexity of the existing planning Act and the myriad of different councils have led to issues. Murphy's law says that you should expect the unexpected to happen and that things will go wrong. Unfortunately, this has been the case in Wollondilly and Wingecarribee.
Let me give an example in Wingecarribee first. The council has a great deal of R5 land, which is rural land that has large lots, not connected to any infrastructure, not connected to paths or parks. In this zone, due to an error from the council at some point in the past, the Wingecarribee LEP allows for group homes to be constructed. Sections 60 and 61 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 allow for the construction of group homes in R1, R2, R3 and R4 zones, but the Wingecarribee LEP also allows those homes to be built also in R5 zones. There is no mechanism for this House to change this. Let me reiterate: This Parliament, which created the Federal Parliament, the councils and the laws and governs over the planning rules of the State, has agreed to designate the rights to change LEPs and SEPPs to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces. In doing so, the Minister then delegates the sign-off of changes to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.
In a series of errors of checking, this alteration for R5 in Wingecarribee was left dormant for years, until a developer took the opportunity to build what looks like a retirement village by stealth. The community misses out on the extra contribution of funding, which would create pathways and green space. There are no winners in this outcome. Wingecarribee Shire Council needs to start the ball rolling to fix this urgently. With every month that goes by without action, the problem will get worse. Councillors need to instruct their staff to get the work done.
Similar to this issue, in Wollondilly, there is another error that has allowed cemeteries and crematoria in RU2 land. The SEPP does not permit this. I have spoken in this place previously of the proposed cemetery for Douglas Park. It is proposed to be on a literal rock shelf that needs to be blasted if there is hope of burying anything. It is next to a gorge and connected to a road that is in complete disrepair, with no other infrastructure. The original proposal was approved above council, and councillors, both in this term and in previous terms, unanimously rejected this proposal.
Wollondilly is currently reviewing the rural zoning applications and, I am told, will be putting in an amendment to the LEP in coming months. This frustratingly long process could be fixed by a single page bill in this place. However, we are unable to make changes to LEPs through bills of Parliament. Both Wollondilly and Wingecarribee LEPs should match the State template. If they do not, the councils must decide if the inconsistency should remain.
The final example of this is the matter that the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Western Sydney Aerotropolis) Bill 2024 addresses. The State Environmental Planning Policy (Precincts–Western Parkland City) 2021, which is a State instrument, has been created due to a misinterpretation of land intensification that does not allow the construction of granny flats in lands close to the airport. That means a person could build a huge 20‑bedroom home, if they liked, but not two dwellings of five or three bedrooms, or even two bedrooms. It means that families still live in sheds to this day.
The SEPP can be changed by this place, but there has been a hesitancy to relinquish that power by the current and previous planning Ministers. The answer to all of these issues is that there needs to be action—not by this place, but by both councils and by the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces. The ultimate say is theirs. They have the power. If they cannot act with the power that they have been given, then it is for us to step in. Mark my words: If they do not get a move on, watch this space.