Consider acid sulfate soils guidelines and studies before intensifying such land.
When preparing a proposal for land mapped as likely to contain acid sulfate soils, the planning authority must consider the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Guidelines. Any provisions regulating works in acid sulfate soils must be consistent with the Acid Sulfate Soils Model LEP or equivalent provisions from the Planning Secretary. Proposals intensifying land use on such land require an acid sulfate soils study, a copy of which must go to the Planning Secretary before community consultation.
Acid sulfate soils are naturally occurring soils and sediments (common in low-lying coastal areas) that are harmless while left undisturbed but, when excavated, drained or otherwise exposed to air, produce sulfuric acid. That acid can damage the environment, waterways, aquatic life and built infrastructure. This direction is a planning safeguard: it aims to stop land-use planning decisions from unintentionally enabling development that would disturb these soils and cause harm.
The direction operates at the strategic (rezoning/planning proposal) stage rather than at the individual development application stage. When a council or other planning authority prepares a planning proposal for land the Department's Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Maps flag as likely to contain such soils, the authority must consider the Department's guidelines, and where it introduces controls to regulate works in these soils, those controls must match the standard model provisions. If the proposal would intensify land use on flagged land, an acid sulfate soils study must be considered and given to the Planning Secretary before community consultation.
If a planning proposal does not comply, it can only proceed as inconsistent where the authority satisfies the Planning Secretary that the inconsistency is either justified by a supporting study addressing the objective, or is of minor significance. The practical consequence of getting this wrong is that the proposal may be stopped or sent back until proper provisions or studies are in place.
All relevant planning authorities (typically councils) responsible for land having a probability of containing acid sulfate soils when they prepare a planning proposal applying to such land.
It is triggered when a relevant planning authority prepares a planning proposal that applies to land shown on the Department's Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Maps as having a probability of containing acid sulfate soils — and specifically bites harder where the proposal introduces provisions to regulate works in acid sulfate soils or proposes an intensification of land uses on such land.
A planning proposal may be inconsistent with the direction only if the relevant planning authority satisfies the Planning Secretary (or a nominated Departmental officer) that the inconsistent provisions are either justified by a study prepared in support of the proposal that considers the objective of the direction, or are of minor significance.
Relies on the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Maps held by the Department of Planning and Environment, the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Guidelines and the Acid Sulfate Soils Model LEP adopted by the Planning Secretary, and references clause 4 of Schedule 1 to the Act for community consultation. It commenced 1 March 2022 and replaces the previous Direction 4.1.
The relevant planning authority must consider the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Guidelines adopted by the Planning Secretary when preparing a planning proposal applying to mapped land.
Where a planning proposal introduces provisions to regulate works in acid sulfate soils, those provisions must be consistent with the Acid Sulfate Soils Model LEP in the guidelines, or other provisions supplied by the Planning Secretary that are consistent with the guidelines.
An authority must not prepare a proposal intensifying land uses on mapped land unless it has considered an acid sulfate soils study assessing the appropriateness of the change of land use, and it must give a copy of that study to the Planning Secretary before community consultation.
If the model/Secretary provisions have not already been introduced and the proposal intensifies land uses on mapped land, the proposal itself must contain provisions consistent with 2(a) and 2(b).
Highly relevant. Kiama is a low-lying coastal LGA with estuarine and floodplain land of the type commonly mapped as probably containing acid sulfate soils. Any Kiama planning proposal (for example a rezoning to increase housing density) over land shown on the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Maps must consider the guidelines, and if it intensifies land use the council must commission and consider an acid sulfate soils study and send it to the Planning Secretary before consulting the community. Note this direction bites at the planning-proposal/rezoning stage, not on ordinary DAs; day-to-day DA controls flow through the council's LEP acid sulfate soils clauses.
4.5 Acid Sulfate Soils Objective The objective of this direction is to avoid significant adverse environmental impacts from the use of land that has a probability of containing acid sulfate soils. Application This direction applies to all relevant planning authorities that are responsible for land having a probability of containing acid sulfate soils when preparing a planning proposal that will apply to land having a probability of containing acid sulfate soils as shown on the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Maps held by the Department of Planning and Environment. Direction 4.5 (1) The relevant planning authority must consider the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Guidelines adopted by the Planning Secretary when preparing a planning proposal that applies to any land identified on the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Maps as having a probability of acid sulfate soils being present. (2) When a relevant planning authority is preparing a planning proposal to introduce provisions to regulate works in acid sulfate soils, those provisions must be consistent with: (a) the Acid Sulfate Soils Model LEP in the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Guidelines adopted by the Planning Secretary, or (b) other such provisions provided by the Planning Secretary that are consistent with the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Guidelines. (3) A relevant planning authority must not prepare a planning proposal that proposes an intensification of land uses on land identified as having a probability of containing acid sulfate soils on the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Maps unless the relevant planning authority has considered an acid sulfate soils study assessing the appropriateness of the change of land use given the presence of acid sulfate soils. The relevant planning authority must provide a copy of any such study to the Planning Secretary prior to undertaking community consultation in satisfaction of clause 4 of Schedule 1 to the Act. (4) Where provisions referred to under 2(a) and 2(b) above of this direction have not been introduced and the relevant planning authority is preparing a planning proposal that proposes an intensification of land uses on land identified as having a probability of acid sulfate soils on the Acid Sulfate Soils Planning Maps, the planning proposal must contain provisions consistent with 2(a) and 2(b). Consistency A planning proposal may be inconsistent with the terms of this direction only if the relevant planning 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: (a) justified by a study prepared in support of the planning proposal which gives consideration to the objective of this direction, or (b) of minor significance. Issued to commence 1 March 2022 (replaces previous Direction 4.1)
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.