STRONG LEADERSHIP AND SHARED VISION
Planning priority 1 – One Council, one plan Consistency is an important element of any planning system. We currently have three sets of planning controls – one for each of the three former regions which makes planning inconsistent across our region. The zones and land use tables in the LEPs and the development standards in the DCPs can differ significantly, for example: • the General Residential zone is only used in the Greater Taree LEP, whereas the Great Lakes and Gloucester LEPs use the Low Density, Medium Density and High Density (Great Lakes only) Residential zones • the Primary Production zone is used in the Greater Taree and Gloucester LEPs, while the Rural Landscape zone is used in the Great Lakes LEP • the development standards in the DCPs vary, resulting in different development outcomes, for example the minimum land size varies for different types of housing. The ‘Zoning In’ project aims to establish a MidCoast-wide plan to provide a consistent approach to planning. With some of our planning controls being over 10-years old, this is an opportunity to renew our planning, apply new approaches and provide flexibility to cater for a variety of different forms of development in our region. The ‘Zoning In’ project has three stages: 1. Understand the MidCoast through a Housing Strategy and Rural Strategy to establish the new planning vision. This is accompanied by reviews of the employment, recreation and infrastructure zones. 2. Write the plan – convert the findings into a new MidCoast LEP and DCP. 3. Review the LSPS to align with the defined MidCoast approach. Further details on each strategy and zone review (from Stage 1) are provided under the relevant Planning Priorities.
MidCoast: Local Strategic Planning Statement
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