Following on from last month’s discussion of Standard Instrument (SI) Land Use Zones, let’s take a look at the elements of a Land Use Zone definition.
An overarching objective of the land use planning reforms that gave rise to the Standard Instrument template was the standardisation of the structure of all NSW LEPs. Where optional clauses can be inserted, their wording too is generally standardised so that the preparation of an LEP is largely an exercise of picking appropriate clauses from a menu of options.
When it comes to land use zones, the SI offers a set of predefined Land Use Zones. These definitions include two elements: the zone objectives and a Land Use Table. Each of the SI land use zone definitions includes a set of core development objectives, and a number of mandatory land uses, some of which must be permitted and others that must be prohibited, within the zone.
Land use zones are defined within a Local Government Area (LGA) by matching one of the predefined sets of zone objectives with desired development outcomes in a given area of the LGA. Councils have the option to add other objectives (that are consistent with the core objectives) to clarify the intent of the zone in their given LGA. The Land Use Table for any particular zone is subsequently populated with land uses that are considered appropriate for that zone within the LGA in question. Once again, however, land use descriptions must be chosen from a standardised list provided in the SI Dictionary.
A Land Use Table, in turn, has three sections, identifying land uses that are permitted without consent (i.e. no council approval required), those that may be permitted with development consent (i.e. with council approval, and conditions generally apply), and those that are prohibited (not allowed under any circumstances) in the relevant Land Use Zone.
It is important to note that the Land Use Table for a particular zone quite often varies between LEPs in different LGAs. Apart from the mandatory requirements, there is a degree of flexibility in the way in which Land Use Tables can be populated, allowing for the fact that the character of a particular Land Use Zone may vary from LGA to LGA. Development in a medium density residential area (R3 zone) in metropolitan Sydney, for example, might reasonably have a different character to development in an R3 zone in Queanbeyan. The list of permissible or prohibited land uses in the two might thus be expected to vary. It might, for example, be perfectly reasonable to allow Car parks or Hotel or motel accommodation, for example, in a metropolitan R3 zoned area, but not in a smaller urban centre like Queanbeyan.
In the context of the current local debate over the zoning of some of our rural residential areas, it is important to appreciate that the issue has moved on from the earlier discussion over the translation of previous zone objectives to a standardised set under the SI. The definitions of each of the E4 and R5 zones within the Palerang and Queanbeyan LEPs are slightly different, reflecting the more urban nature of residential development in and around Queanbeyan. In creating a new LEP for the merged LGA, the R5 zone definition, which is used around new development areas like Googong, has therefore moved towards one more suited to an urban environment—Extensive agriculture, for example, requires council consent and Animal boarding and training establishments, which includes land uses like horse riding schools, which are not uncommon in the former Palerang rural residential areas, are prohibited. The E4 zone, on the other hand, has remained essentially as it was under the Palerang LEP, with the former YLEP 1(d) rural residential areas and associated land uses remaining its predominant application.
Either way, quite apart from any land use zoning, development must comply with applicable lot size limitations, building height restrictions and controls on terrestrial biodiversity and riparian lands to name but a few. All of these controls are applied quite independently throughout an LGA, through individual LEP clauses and associated map overlays.
As such, land use zoning is only one of the controls provided in an LEP and it is good to keep its purpose in mind, that simply being the promotion of a particular style of development in a given area. In the present context, the E4 (Environmental Living) zone is used to ensure that residential development is consistent with the environmental capabilities of the land in question, while the R5 (Large Lot Residential) zone is used to ensure that development is consistent with the residential amenity of adjacent urban development. The difference is perhaps subtle, but one promotes residential development and associated land uses that are consistent with any local environmental considerations while the other promotes development and land uses that are consistent with the amenity of adjacent urban areas.