Catchment proposals must protect water quality and consult Water NSW.
Applies to: Land in the Sydney drinking water catchment within listed LGAs (e.g. Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Wollondilly, Wingecarribee, Shoalhaven and others)Planning proposals for land in the Sydney drinking water catchment must protect water quality, ensuring new development has a neutral or beneficial effect on water quality, matching land use to capability and maintaining ecological values of Special Areas. The authority must consult Water NSW, comply with the relevant SEPP provisions, identify water quality risks, consider the Strategic Land and Water Capability Assessment, and zone Special Area land as specified.
Direction 3.3 exists to keep the water flowing to Sydney's dams clean. When a council or other planning proposal authority wants to change the planning rules (a planning proposal, e.g. rezoning land or amending an LEP) for land that sits inside the mapped Sydney drinking water catchment, this direction forces water-quality protection to be built into that proposal from the start. The guiding rule is that water quality in the catchment must be protected, backed by three specific principles: new development must have a 'neutral or beneficial effect' on water quality (including groundwater), future land use should be matched to what the land and water can physically handle, and the ecological values of any 'Special Area' should be maintained.
Planning proposal authorities (typically councils) preparing planning proposals for land in the Sydney drinking water catchment within the listed LGAs, which include Kiama, Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Wollondilly, Wingecarribee, Shoalhaven, Wollongong and others.
It is triggered when a planning proposal authority prepares a planning proposal for land located in the Sydney drinking water catchment within one of the listed local government areas. It does not apply to development applications directly \u2014 it governs the strategic rule-making stage before a gateway determination.
A planning proposal may be inconsistent only if the planning proposal authority can satisfy the Planning Secretary (or a nominated departmental officer) that the inconsistent provisions are of minor significance.
Ties directly to the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021 (Part 6.5 of Chapter 6, and the definition of 'Sydney drinking water catchment'), the Water NSW Act 2014 (definition of 'Special Area'), the Standard Instrument (Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006 for zoning, the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, the EP&A Act (section 3.34 gateway determination), and the WaterNSW Strategic Land and Water Capability Assessment.
New development within the catchment must have a neutral or beneficial effect on water quality, including groundwater.
Future land use should be matched to land and water capability, and the ecological values of land within a Special Area should be maintained.
The authority must consult with Water NSW, describing how the proposal gives effect to the water quality protection principles, and include any information received from WaterNSW in the proposal before a gateway determination is issued.
The proposal must be consistent with Part 6.5 of Chapter 6 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021.
The authority must identify any existing water quality (including groundwater) risks to any waterway on or adjacent to the site.
Give consideration to the outcomes of the Strategic Land and Water Capability Assessment prepared by WaterNSW (land use capability maps and GIS data provided to councils in June 2009).
Kiama is expressly on the list of LGAs, so this direction does bite \u2014 but only for the portion of the Kiama LGA that falls within the mapped Sydney drinking water catchment. Where a Kiama planning proposal affects catchment land, the council must consult WaterNSW, demonstrate a neutral or beneficial effect on water quality, address groundwater and waterway risks, apply the C1/C2/SP2 zoning approach to any Special Area land, and lodge WaterNSW's response before a gateway determination. For coastal Kiama parcels outside the drinking water catchment the direction has no application.
3.3 Sydney Drinking Water Catchments Objective The objective of this direction is to provide for healthy catchments and protect water quality in the Sydney drinking water catchment. Application This direction applies when a planning proposal authority prepares a planning proposal for land located in the Sydney drinking water catchment in the following local government areas: Blacktown Kiama Upper Lachlan Blue Mountains Lithgow Wingecarribee Campbelltown Oberon Wollondilly Snowy Monaro Queanbeyan-Palerang Wollongong Eurobodalla Shoalhaven Goulburn Mulwaree Sutherland Direction 3.3 (1) A planning proposal must be prepared in accordance with the general principle that water quality within the Sydney drinking water catchment must be protected, and in accordance with the following specific principles: (a) new development within the Sydney drinking water catchment must have a neutral or beneficial effect on water quality (including groundwater), and (b) future land use in the Sydney drinking water catchment should be matched to land and water capability, and (c) the ecological values of land within a Special Area should be maintained. (2) When preparing a planning proposal, the planning proposal authority must: (a) consult with Water NSW, describing the means by which the planning proposal gives effect to the water quality protection principles set out in paragraph (1) of this direction, and (b) ensure that the proposal is consistent with Part 6.5 of Chapter 6 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021, and (c) identify any existing water quality (including groundwater) risks to any waterway occurring on, or adjacent to the site, and (d) give consideration to the outcomes of the Strategic Land and Water Capability Assessment prepared by WaterNSW, and (e) zone land within the Special Areas generally in accordance with the following: Land Zone under Standard Instrument (Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006 Land reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 C1 National Parks and Nature Reserves Land in the ownership or under the care, control and management of Water NSW located above the full water supply level C2 Environmental Conservation Land Zone under Standard Instrument (Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006 Land below the full water supply level (including water storage at dams and weirs) and operational land at dams, weirs, pumping stations etc. SP2 Infrastructure (and marked “Water Supply Systems” on the Land Zoning Map) and (f) include a copy of any information received from WaterNSW as a result of the consultation process in its planning proposal prior to the issuing of a gateway determination under section 3.34 of the EP&A Act. Consistency A planning proposal may be inconsistent with the terms of this direction only if the planning proposal authority can satisfy the Planning Secretary (or an officer of the Department nominated by the Secretary) that the provisions of the planning proposal that are inconsistent are of minor signi ficance. Note: In this direction: “Sydney drinking water catchment” has the same meaning as in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021. “Special Area” has the same meaning as in the Water NSW Act 2014. “Strategic Land and Water Capability Assessment” means the series of land use capability maps and GIS data of this title, prepared by WaterNSW and as provided to councils in June 2009. The maps resulted from WaterNSW’s assessment of the physical capability of natural features of land and waterways to identify appropriate types and intensities of land use that will not adversely impact on water quality and catchment health. Date commenced: 21 November 2022
This is an unofficial reproduction provided for convenience. It is not the official version of the legislation. For the official, in-force version, see legislation.nsw.gov.au.
Land within Special Areas must generally be zoned as set out: national parks land as C1, WaterNSW land above full water supply level as C2, and land below full water supply level or operational dam land as SP2 Infrastructure marked 'Water Supply Systems'.
Reproduced from the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (planning.nsw.gov.au), © State of New South Wales, under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Text extraction may introduce minor formatting artefacts — rely on the official source for anything decision-critical.