In the face of advice from the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure, Council has had to further modify the draft PLEP clauses relating to Dual Occupancy and Secondary Dwelling developments. The result is a win-win situation in that, under the new PLEP, Dual Occupancy development will still be permitted in the rural and environmental zones, to allow for the construction of larger dwellings in these areas, and the new Secondary Dwelling category will allow smaller developments in village areas as a complying development, a type of development that effectively involves less paperwork.
As noted in my earlier post on the subject, it was the Department’s intention that a Dual Occupancy development would lead to subdivision, which is not allowed in most current rural residential areas within Palerang. Council had sought to use provisions for Secondary Dwellings to overcome this problem.
The Secondary Dwelling category of development, which is covered by a State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), was introduced in 2009 to simplify the planning process for some types of low cost rental accommodation that did not involve subdivision. While not restricted to urban areas, in the Secondary Dwelling context it was primarily intended to streamline approvals for ‘granny flat’ style developments.
By modifying the regulations surrounding Secondary Dwelling developments to accommodate larger dwellings in rural and rural residential areas, however, Council had introduced unintended consequences for developments in village residential areas.
To avoid any conflict with the intent of the Affordable Housing SEPP (which covers Secondary Dwelling developments), council has retained a restriction on the size of a Secondary Dwelling, but also reintroduced Dual Occupancy developments as permitted in the rural and environmental zones (which includes current rural residential areas).
To avoid any conflict with the notion that a dual occupancy development might lead to subdivision, the draft PLEP now includes a clause that prohibits any type of subdivision that would result in lot sizes smaller than the minimum for the area in question. The draft also currently restricts dual occupancy developments to village lots that are greater than 1500 m² in sewered areas, or 8000 m² in unsewered areas.