Palerang Local Environmental Plan
Council is working on the preparation of the first Palerang Local Environmental Plan (PLEP). Since amalgamation, Palerang council has been working with multiple LEPs inherited from its different shires such as Yarrowlumla and Tallaganda.
The LEP Template
The basic LEP template/document, the so-called Standard Instrument, is provided by NSW Department of Planning, and is the same for all NSW Councils—with mandatory sections, and clauses where Councils can put their own ‘stamp’ on the document by adding in specific additional requirements.
The NSW Government template has a range of zones to allow for many different types of land usage, with objectives that characterise each particular zone. Zones can be included in or excluded from the LEP as appropriate.
The Draft PLEP
Certification of the amended draft Palerang Local Environmental Plan, under Section 65(1) of the EP&A Act, by the NSW Department of Planning & Infrastructure, was issued on 13 November 2012. The draft is scheduled to go on public exhibition from 5 December 2012 to 8 March 2013. Full details and a copy of the draft will be avialable from the Palerang Council website during that period. A series of public meetings will be scheduled early in December to brief interested residents on the content and implications of the new planning instrument.
Note that, throughout the working drafts of the PLEP, there are items in black text and items in red text. The items in black text are mandatory inclusions (they appear in all LEPs), as determined by the NSW State Government. The items in red text are optional inclusions, identified by council planning staff as being relevant in our LGA. Many of these optional inclusions are simply chosen from a template provided by the NSW State Government, although some have been drafted by Council's planning staff to cover specific local conditions.
NSW Government Planning
If you're interested in the New South Wales planning and development assessment system that underpins the whole LEP preparation process, visit the NSW Government Planning Web site.