In listed LGAs, proposals must give priority to retaining public bushland.
Applies to: Listed metropolitan Sydney, Central Coast, Lake Macquarie and surrounding LGAs (e.g. Bayside, Blacktown, Sutherland, Wollondilly)When preparing a planning proposal for land in the listed local government areas, the planning authority must be satisfied the proposal is consistent with protecting urban bushland and gives priority to retaining public bushland. This priority only yields where significant environmental, economic or social benefits outweigh the bushland's value.
Direction 3.7 is a Ministerial planning direction that protects bushland in urban areas of Sydney and surrounding LGAs when a council or other planning proposal authority is drafting a change to a Local Environmental Plan (a 'planning proposal'). Its purpose is to keep publicly owned bushland ecologically viable — preserving biodiversity, habitat corridors, links to nearby bushland, soil stability, natural drainage and watercourses, and the land's recreational, cultural and scientific values — while minimising the disturbance new development causes.
Mechanically, when a planning proposal is prepared for land in a listed LGA, the authority must satisfy itself that the proposal is consistent with the direction's objectives and gives priority to retaining public bushland. The 'retain' priority can only be overridden where the authority is satisfied that significant environmental, economic or social benefits will arise that outweigh the value of the bushland.
If a proposal would be inconsistent with the direction, it cannot simply proceed — the authority must first justify the inconsistency to the Planning Secretary (or a nominated departmental officer) through one of the listed pathways, or show the inconsistency is of minor significance. In short, the direction sets a strong default of keeping public bushland in place and puts the onus on the planning authority to demonstrate why any departure is warranted.
Planning proposal authorities (typically councils, but also other bodies preparing planning proposals) for land in the listed local government areas. It does not directly bind development applicants or certifiers — it operates at the plan-making (LEP amendment) stage.
It is triggered when a planning proposal authority prepares a planning proposal for land within one of the listed LGAs (metropolitan Sydney, Central Coast, Lake Macquarie and surrounding councils, including Hawkesbury excluding land north of the Colo River).
A planning proposal may be inconsistent only if the authority satisfies the Planning Secretary (or nominated officer) that the inconsistent provisions are: justified by a strategy approved by the Secretary that considers the objective and identifies the land; or justified by a study prepared in support of the proposal that considers the objectives; or in accordance with a relevant regional or district strategic plan prepared under Division 3.1 of the EP&A Act; or of minor significance.
References the Standard Instrument–Principal Local Environmental Plan (SI LEP) for the meaning of 'public bushland', and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Division 3.1) for regional and district strategic plans prepared by the relevant strategic planning authority.
The authority must be satisfied the planning proposal is consistent with the objectives, which include preserving biodiversity and habitat corridors, links to nearby bushland, soil stabilisation, hydrological landforms and the land's recreational, cultural and other values, and mitigating disturbance from development.
The proposal must give priority to retaining public bushland unless the authority is satisfied that significant environmental, economic or social benefits will arise that outweigh the value of the public bushland.
'Public bushland' has the same meaning as in the Standard Instrument–Principal Local Environmental Plan (SI LEP).
Kiama is not in the list of LGAs to which this direction applies, so Direction 3.7 does not bind planning proposals for land in the Kiama LGA. A Kiama council planner preparing an LEP amendment does not need to satisfy this particular direction; bushland and biodiversity concerns at Kiama would instead be addressed through other applicable directions and instruments (for example biodiversity/coastal directions and relevant SEPPs).
3.7 Public Bushland Objective The objective of this direction is to protect bushland in urban areas, including rehabilitated areas, and ensure the ecological viability of the bushland, by: (a) preserving: i. biodiversity and habitat corridors, ii. links between public bushland and other nearby bushland, iii. bushland as a natural stabiliser of the soil surface, iv. existing hydrological landforms, processes and functions, including natural drainage lines, watercourses, wetlands and foreshores, v. the recreational, educational, scientific, aesthetic, environmental, ecological and cultural values and potential of the land, and (b) mitigating disturbance caused by development, (c) giving priority to retaining public bushland. Application This direction applies when a planning proposal authority prepares a planning proposal for land in the following local government areas: Bayside Hornsby Randwick Blacktown Hunters Hill Ryde Burwood Inner West Strathfield Camden Ku-ring-gai Sutherland Campbelltown Lake Macquarie Sydney Canada Bay Lane Cove The Hills Canterbury-Bankstown Liverpool Waverley Central Coast Mosman Willoughby Cumberland North Sydney Wollondilly Fairfield Northern Beaches Woollahra Georges River Parramatta Hawkesbury (excluding land north of the Colo River) Penrith Direction 3.7 (1) When preparing a planning proposal, the planning proposal authority must be satisfied that the planning proposal: (a) is consistent with the objectives of this direction, and (b) gives priority to retaining public bushland, unless the planning proposal authority is satisfied that significant environmental, economic or social benefits will arise that outweigh the value of the public bushland. Consistency A planning proposal may be inconsistent with 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: (a) are justified by a strategy approved by the Planning Secretary which: i. gives consideration to the objective of this direction, and ii. identifies the land which is the subject of the planning proposal (if the planning proposal relates to a particular site or sites), or (b) are justified by a study prepared in support of the planning proposal which gives consideration to the objectives of this direction, or (c) are in accordance with any relevant regional strategic plan or district strategic plan, prepared under Division 3.1 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 by the relevant strategic planning authority, or (d) are of minor significance. Note: In this direction: Public bushland has the same meaning as the Standard Instrument-Principal Local Environmental Plan (SI LEP). 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.
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.