Can't rezone mapped Far North Coast significant farmland for housing.
Applies to: Planning proposals in Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed LGAs (excluding mapped urban growth areas) on mapped significant farmlandA planning proposal must not rezone land mapped as State significant, regionally significant or significant non-contiguous farmland for urban or rural residential purposes. This protects the best agricultural land on the NSW Far North Coast from urban encroachment.
This direction protects the best agricultural land on the NSW Far North Coast by preventing certain rezonings that would take mapped significant farmland out of agricultural production. It is aimed at keeping high-quality farmland available to grow food and fibre for current and future generations, giving councils and landowners certainty about which land is off-limits for urban conversion, and reducing the conflicts (dust, noise, spray, complaints) that arise when houses and towns creep into working farming areas.
The mechanism is a hard 'must not' rule tied to mapping. If land is shown on the four 2005 Northern Rivers Farmland Protection Project maps as State significant farmland, regionally significant farmland, or significant non-contiguous farmland, a planning proposal cannot rezone that land for urban or rural residential purposes. It applies to six named local government areas but carves out land identified as 'urban growth areas' in the North Coast Regional Plan 2041.
A planning proposal that would be inconsistent with the direction can only proceed if the council can satisfy the Planning Secretary (or a nominated departmental officer) that the proposal is consistent with either the North Coast Regional Plan 2041 or Section 4 of the 2005 Final Recommendations report. In practice, this means a straightforward rezoning of protected farmland to housing is prohibited unless the council can demonstrate that higher-level consistency to the Secretary's satisfaction.
Relevant planning authorities (in practice, councils) preparing planning proposals for land within Ballina Shire, Byron Shire, Kyogle Shire, Lismore City, Richmond Valley and Tweed Shire local government areas.
When a relevant planning authority prepares a planning proposal for land in the six named LGAs (excluding 'urban growth areas' mapped in the North Coast Regional Plan 2041) that applies to land mapped as State significant farmland, regionally significant farmland, or significant non-contiguous farmland on the set of four 2005 Northern Rivers Farmland Protection Project maps.
Land identified as 'urban growth areas' mapped in the North Coast Regional Plan 2041 is excluded from the direction. Otherwise, a planning proposal may only be inconsistent if the council satisfies the Planning Secretary (or a nominated departmental officer) that it is consistent with the North Coast Regional Plan 2041, or with Section 4 of the report 'Northern Rivers Farmland Protection Project - Final Recommendations, February 2005'.
Connects to the North Coast Regional Plan 2041 (both for the urban growth area exclusion and as a consistency pathway) and to the Northern Rivers Farmland Protection Project - Final Recommendations, February 2005 (Section 4 as a consistency pathway, and the associated 2005 final maps that define the protected land).
A planning proposal must not rezone land identified as 'State Significant Farmland' for urban or rural residential purposes.
A planning proposal must not rezone land identified as 'Regionally Significant Farmland' for urban or rural residential purposes.
A planning proposal must not rezone land identified as 'significant non-contiguous farmland' for urban or rural residential purposes.
The prohibition is triggered by mapping on the four maps marked 'Northern Rivers Farmland Protection Project, Final Map 2005 (Section 117(2) Direction)' held by the Department of Planning and Environment.
This direction does not apply to Kiama. It is limited to the six named Far North Coast LGAs (Ballina, Byron, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed) and relies on the Northern Rivers 2005 farmland maps, none of which cover Kiama. A Kiama planning proposal or DA is not affected by this item, though Kiama planners should note that other farmland or primary production protections may apply to their region through different directions.
9.4 Farmland of State and Regional Significance on the NSW Far North Coast Objectives The objectives of this direction are to: (a) ensure that the best agricultural land will be available for current and future generations to grow food and fibre, (b) provide more certainty on the status of the best agricultural land, thereby assisting councils with their local strategic settlement planning, and (c) reduce land use conflict arising between agricultural use and non-agricultural use of farmland as caused by urban encroachment into farming areas. Application This direction applies when a relevant planning authority prepares a planning proposal for land within Ballina Shire, Byron Shire, Kyogle Shire, Lismore City, Richmond Valley and Tweed Shire local government areas, except land identified as “urban growth areas” mapped in the North Coast Regional Plan 2041 when preparing a planning proposal, that applies to land: (a) mapped as i. State significant farmland, or ii. regionally significant farmland, or iii. significant non-contiguous farmland, (b) on the set of four maps held in the Department of Planning and Environment marked “Northern Rivers Farmland Protection Project, Final Map 2005 (Section 117(2) Direction)”; and Direction 9.4 (1) A planning proposal must not: (a) rezone land identified as “State Significant Farmland” for urban or rural residential purposes. (b) rezone land identified as “Regionally Significant Farmland” for urban or rural residential purposes. (c) rezone land identified as “significant non-contiguous farmland” for urban or rural residential purposes. Consistency A planning proposal may be inconsistent with the terms of this direction only if council can satisfy the Planning Secretary (or an officer of the Department nominated by the Secretary) that the planning proposal is consistent with: (a) the North Coast Regional Plan 2041, or (b) Section 4 of the report titled Northern Rivers Farmland Protection Project - Final Recommendations, February 2005, held by the Department of Planning and Environment. Date commenced: 13 December 2022
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.
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.