Consider supply chain needs when handling out-of-hours warehouse complaints.
This circular advises councils to consider the broader context and the need for supply chain recovery when responding to complaints about out-of-hours operations for warehouse and distribution centres.
Planning Circular PS 26-002 is a short piece of non-statutory guidance issued by the NSW planning department on 30 March 2026 under the 'Planning Systems' principle. Its single, narrow message is that when a council receives complaints about warehouses and distribution centres operating outside normal hours, the council should look at the bigger picture — including the importance of keeping supply chains moving — before it acts. It is guidance about how councils exercise judgement in responding to complaints, not a change to any statute, consent condition or environmental planning instrument.
NSW councils dealing with warehouse and distribution centre operations, specifically when they are responding to complaints about out-of-hours operations. As a circular it is non-statutory guidance and advisory in nature rather than a legally binding order.
It is triggered when a council receives complaints regarding out-of-hours (out of standard operating hours) operations at warehouses and distribution centres.
Councils are advised to weigh the wider circumstances rather than react to a complaint about out-of-hours warehouse/distribution operations in isolation.
The circular directs councils to have regard to the need for supply chain recovery when deciding how to respond to such complaints.
Kiama has few large-scale freight or logistics facilities, so this circular is likely to have limited day-to-day application in the LGA. Where it could bite is if a distribution centre, cold-store, courier depot or a larger retail warehouse operates near the residential fringes of coastal towns and generates noise or truck-movement complaints outside standard hours; in that situation Kiama Council, when fielding the complaint, is advised to weigh supply chain recovery and the broader context. It does not change any consent condition or hours-of-operation control already attached to a development.
“This circular advises councils to consider the broader context and the need for supply chain recovery when responding to any complaints that may be received regarding out of hours operations for warehouse and distribution centres.”
“Current planning system circulars provide point-in-time non‑statutory guidance to support the consistent application of planning principles, processes and practices across NSW.”
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.