Parramatta Local Environmental Plan 2023

A Local Environmental Plan (LEP) is the primary legal planning document for guiding development and land use decisions made by Council. The LEP allows Council to plan and regulate growth and development in a sustainable way through appropriate zoning and development controls – for example, by specifying what type of development is allowed in an area, and applying floor space and height limits.

As a result of changes to Council boundaries in May 2016, the City of Parramatta is currently operating under five separate local environmental plans. These represent the planning controls that were applying to different parts of the council area prior to the amalgamations. These include:

• Auburn Local Environmental Plan 2010, which applies to land in the former Auburn Council area.
• Holroyd Local Environmental Plan 2013, which applies to land in the former Holroyd Council area.
• Hornsby Local Environmental Plan 2013, which applies to land in the former Hornsby Council area.
• Parramatta (former The Hills) Local Environmental Plan 2012, which applies to land in the former The Hills Council area.
• Parramatta Local Environmental Plan 2011, which applies to land in the former Parramatta City Council area.

The current approach creates an inconsistent and fragmented planning framework for the City of Parramatta. This means in some places different rules can apply to different sides of the same street.

The new Parramatta Local Environmental Plan will consolidate planning controls into one document, helping to create a clearer and more consistent set of planning controls for the whole council area.

The new Local Environmental Plan is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all planning controls, but a harmonisation (or consolidation) of the five existing LEPs that apply across the City of Parramatta Council area.

Generally, where current controls for a certain zone or land use are broadly consistent across the Council area, these have been carried over in the new LEP and will continue to apply. Controls specific to a particular site or location have also been carried over into the new LEP and will continue to apply.

Where existing controls do not align, Council has taken into consideration the character, context and issues relevant to different parts of the Council area to decide which are the most appropriate controls to apply. We have also considered council and state government policies and strategies, including Council's recently adopted Local Strategic Planning Statement.

The primary focus of the new Local Environmental Plan is harmonisation (or consolidation) of the five existing LEPs that apply across the council area. It does not propose major changes to zoning or increases to density controls. However, in order to create a single LEP, some changes are proposed to the planning controls currently applying in certain areas. These include:

• changes to the types of development that are allowed in certain areas. In low density residential areas, this includes not allowing dual occupancies to be built in sensitive locations or on small sites; and prohibiting indoor recreation facilities (such as 24-hour gyms) and places of public worship.
• changes to bring a consistent approach to height and floor space ratio controls applying to residential zones; and
• a limited number of changes to the zoning of some sites to address inconsistencies and anomalies across current land use plans.

Where no changes are proposed, the existing planning controls will carry over into the new Local Environmental Plan.

In preparing the draft Local Environmental Plan, Council has taken into consideration existing local and state Government planning policies and strategies. An explanation of the consistency of the proposed controls with these policies and plans is included in the Planning Proposal.

In November 2019, the City of Parramatta Council formerly endorsed a set of draft proposals for the new Local Environmental Plan (known as a “Planning Proposal”).

The Planning Proposal has now been reviewed by the NSW Government; who have approved them for formal public exhibition.

The exhibition period gives the public an opportunity to comment on the proposals, before the new LEP is finalised and legally made. This exhibition follows community consultation undertaken in early 2019 on options for the new LEP (which were outlined in a discussion paper called “Harmonising our land use planning framework”).

Before a Local Environmental Plan can be made, Council is required to prepare and publicly exhibit a Planning Proposal that explains the intended effect of the proposed Local Environmental Plan and sets out the justification for the proposed controls.

The Planning Proposal for the new consolidated Parramatta Local Environmental Plan describes how Council intends to harmonise the planning controls of the existing Auburn, Holroyd, Hornsby, Parramatta and The Hills Local Environmental Plans into a single set of planning controls for the Council area.

The Planning Proposal includes the following:

• Part 1 – A statement of the objectives and intended outcomes of the proposed consolidated Parramatta Local Environmental Plan
• Part 2 – An explanation of the proposed controls that are to be included in the new Local Environmental Plan
• Part 3 – The justification for the proposals
• Part 4 – Maps, where relevant, to illustrate the proposals and the land to which they are intended to apply
• Part 5 – Details of the community consultation that is to be undertaken on the planning proposal
• Part 6 – A project timeline to detail the anticipated timeframe for the plan making process

The Planning Proposal also includes several supporting documents:

• Draft wording of the new LEP
• Comparisons of the existing planning controls applying in the Council area
• A report outlining feedback received on the Harmonising our land use planning framework Discussion Paper
• A Dual Occupancy Constraints Analysis
• A quantitative analysis of the key changes proposed to residential zones

The proposals on exhibition have been informed by extensive community and stakeholder feedback received on the Discussion Paper Harmonising our land use planning framework, which Council exhibited in early 2019.

Council has prepared a consultation report summarising the feedback received on the Discussion Paper and providing responses to the key issues raised. The report is available as part of the exhibition documents.

Council will consider all feedback received during the consultation period. This may result in some changes being made to the proposals.

The feedback received and recommendations for the new planning controls will be reported back to Council who will make a final decision on the proposals. Once endorsed, Council will submit the Panning Proposal to the Department of Planning, Industry & Environment, who will be responsible for finalising the LEP.

The new Local Environmental Plan proposes to carry over the existing zoning on the majority of land in the City of Parramatta Council area. However, changes to zoning are proposed at selected locations and are outlined in the exhibition material. These changes are aimed at applying a more appropriate zoning and phasing out some zones that are no longer considered appropriate to the new Council area. The proposed zoning changes are not intended to increase the amount of development allowed in an area.

The new Local Environmental Plan proposes to retain existing development controls on the majority of land in City of Parramatta. However, some changes to height and density controls are proposed to residential zones to bring consistency across the Council area. In some cases, these proposed changes will result in a reduction in the amount of development that is allowed in an area.

Some changes are also proposed to the type of development that may or may not be permissible in an area, such as prohibiting dual occupancy development in certain low density neighborhoods.

Some sites have also been identified as having significant vegetation and waterways that need to be protected through the LEP.

To see what changes apply specifically to your property, please refer to the maps available above.

You can lodge a development application (DA) at any time in accordance with the current planning controls that apply to your land. However, the Planning Proposal for the draft consolidated Parramatta Local Environmental Plan will be considered as part of the assessment process. The extent to which the draft Local Environmental Plan affects the proposed development is determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the specific nature of the proposed development.

Anyone wanting to confirm the current planning controls applying to a property can contact Council’s Duty Planner on (02) 9806 5050. The Duty Planner can also provide you with the details of Council’s pre-lodgement service where you can get advice and assistance with the preparation of a development application.

The purpose of preparing the new local environmental plan is to consolidate current planning controls. While a limited number of zoning changes are proposed, these are to allow phasing out of some zones no longer considered appropriate in the Council area and/or to ensure planning controls reflect and protect the established character or environmental conditions of a site.

This process is not intended as an alternate pathway for consideration of active planning proposals or site specific proposals for change, particularly those that seek to increase the type or amount of development allowed on a site. Site specific proposals of this nature require detailed investigations which are not able to be undertaken as part of this LEP consolidation process.

Where individual sites or precincts are the subject of separate proposals to change planning controls, such as through the Parramatta CBD Planning Proposal, these will continue to be progressed separately with their own consultation process.

Any changes to the planning controls agreed as part of these separate processes will be carried over into the new Local Environmental Plan.