The QPR Blog

As all the insomniacs in the shire read through the draft Palerang Local Environmental Plan (PLEP) in search of enlightenment, a number of people have asked about the application of existing land use rights in the context of this new planning instrument.

Existing use rights allow any land use that is legally practiced under a previous planning instrument to carry forward under a new planning instrument whether or not it is consistent with the provisions of the new instrument. (more…)

Property owners will have recently received a letter from Palerang Council advising that the zoning of their land will change under the new Palerang Local Environmental Plan (PLEP). In most cases, the consequences of the change will be at most minimal, but I thought it might be of interest to explain what’s going on.

The main purpose of land use zoning, as the name implies, is to control land use in various parts of the shire. (more…)

The new draft Palerang Local Environmental Plan (PLEP) is now on public exhibition. As part of the exhibition process, council will be running a series of public information sessions throughout the shire to provide background information to interested residents. The schedule for these session is as follows:

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A few months ago, I sat in on a public meeting to discuss subdivision options for certain blocks in Bungendore. One resident was quite surprised to discover that they couldn’t simply put up a fence across their yard and sell the part they weren’t living on. (more…)

In an earlier post on the subject of lot size averaging I discussed the implications of a last minute change made by the outgoing Council to the draft Palerang Local Environmental Plan (PLEP).

After a minor procedural hiccup, the new Council has succeeded in reversing this particular amendment, effectively leaving rural subdivision arrangements as they currently stand until any change can be justified through an appropriate Rural Settlement Study. (more…)

For some time it has been a requirement in NSW for owners of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs to have a Property Identification Code (PIC) when trading or moving these livestock.

From 1 September 2012, anyone who keeps livestock in NSW will be required to obtain a PIC for the land on which the livestock are kept.

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There has been a flurry of activity in the lead up to the September elections. Unfortunately, this has not been related to election activities as such, but rather the hasty revision of provisions governing subdivision in the current Rural 1(a) zone before the end of the term of the present Council, which just happens to be dominated by individuals with large rural land holdings. (more…)

I touched on some aspects of earthworks and development consent in an earlier posting.

Following another query relating to earthworks, I thought a little more information might be of interest. The following is the clause relating to earthworks from the draft Palerang Local Environmental Plan 2012. It outlines what earthworks activities require development consent and why. (more…)

I have discussed the various planning instruments that apply to development within Palerang in a previous post. As noted therein, the legislation that governs the way development is undertaken within Palerang is largely defined within State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) and the Palerang Local Environmental Plan (PLEP). Further, under Section 74 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, a local planning authority may also prepare a Development Control Plan (DCP), which is subordinate to both the SEPPs and LEP for the relevant area. (more…)

I’ve loaded the latest versions of the various maps associated with the draft PLEP into the Palerang Info Zone part of the website. If you navigate down through the Palerang Info Zone > PLEP > Maps links in the left side menu (or just click here), you will find links to the , Biodiversity, Flood Planning, Height of Buildings, Heritage, Land Acquisition, Land Application, Land Use Zoning, Lot Size and Watercourse maps (note that there are a few new ones in there). (more…)