This is a subject that comes up from time to time, often in the context of new subdivisions and development. Land use zoning is one of the tools available to council planners within a Local Environmental Plan (LEP), the legislation that provides the basis for land use planning within a Local Government Area (LGA), to help manage orderly development and promote the style of land use considered appropriate throughout an LGA.
The impact of land use zoning is perhaps most apparent in more structured urban areas, where different development styles are more clearly delineated. There are commercial areas, perhaps office blocks or industrial areas, parks and gardens, and often a range of residential development styles, from detached dwellings to high-rise apartment blocks. Land use zoning allows council planners to identify specific areas within a city, town or broader rural area where the sorts of land uses consistent with the existing landscape or a particular development style are to be promoted.
In the most obvious cases, town planners will identify a business district, in a town or city, in a central location, surrounded by residential development, higher density (town house or apartment) development closer to the centre of the town or city and lower density development further out. Industrial areas will generally be located away from residential development and parks and recreational areas will be sited according to demand. All of these areas will be defined within an LEP by distinct Land Use Zones that specifically identify the types of land use that are considered appropriate for the area in question. This element of town planning is one of finding a balance between identifying appropriate locations for particular land uses, providing an appropriate mix of land uses for a population and seeking to minimise conflicts between different styles of land use. Of course, historical development patterns present their own challenges and often conspire against any otherwise ordered system.
Rural areas are managed in a similar manner, with a general focus on agricultural and other compatible land uses. Our rural residential areas sit somewhere in between areas of more concentrated residential development and agricultural lands.
The LEPs for all LGAs in NSW are based on a common legislative template known as the Standard Instrument (SI). As part of providing a standardised base for all LEPs, the SI includes a predefined set of Land Use Zones, grouped into general categories—Business, Environmental Protection, Industrial, Recreation, Residential, Rural, Special Purpose and Waterways. Each of these categories includes several specific Land Use Zones, so that the Residential category includes predefined zones for different styles of residential development, from a General Residential zone, and Large Lot through Low, Medium and High Density Residential zones. Similarly, the Rural category includes general Primary Production and Rural Landscape zones, and more specific Forestry and Rural [Primary Production] Small Holdings zones. Interestingly, the Rural category also includes a general Rural Village zone, which accommodates the mixture of compatible small business and residential land uses that typify smaller residential settlements, if not the more general rural landscape.
The other category that has some local relevance is the Environmental Protection category. Like the other categories, the specific Land Use Zones herein cover a range of land uses, from National Parks, through Environmental Conservation, Environmental Management and Environmental Living, the latter being the zoning that has, to date, been applied to our rural residential areas, which broadly embrace a style of residential development that is compatible with local environmental constraints, rather than residential development just for the sake of it.
But all of this is only one part of the land use management story. With the development of Geographic Information Systems over the past 20 years, land use planning is now managed on many different planes, of which land use zoning is just one. No longer are controls tied simply to Land Use Zones. A SI LEP also includes individual mapping elements that specify controls such as subdivision lot sizes and building heights, as well as the identification of terrestrial biodiversity, watercourses and many other landscape features. While there may be relationships between these different characteristics and their legislative controls, all of these conditions are managed independently. While lot sizes in the middle of town might well be smaller than those in rural areas, the Land Use Zone does not dictate the lot size. Similarly, while apartment blocks may well be higher than detached dwellings, the permissibility of apartment blocks or detached dwelling in any particular location and the height of buildings in the same location are managed independently. And controls that relate to environmental features such as terrestrial biodiversity, erodible soils or watercourses don’t only apply in areas where environmental land uses are promoted through land use zoning, they apply where ever these features have been identified in the relevant LEP maps.
Land use planning has come a long way from the days when the only controls were on the locations of ‘trades’ and ‘industries’. But still, we’ve really only had formal planning legislation in NSW since the EP&A Act was introduced in 1979 and even the way in which this legislation is implemented has changed dramatically as we have been able to make use of modern mapping and GIS methodologies to support the planning process.