Out with the old, in with the new: business, employment and mixed use rezonings published, some with immediate effect

Last Friday the NSW Government published six new state environmental planning policies (SEPPs), re-writing the zoning rules for business, industrial and mixed use zones across NSW.??Some rezonings take effect immediately.??

Mills Oakley foreshadowed these new SEPPs in an article published last week (available here).

The new SEPPs are as follows:

• State Environmental Planning Policy Amendment (Land Use Zones) 2022;
• State Environmental Planning Policy Amendment (Land Use Zones) (No 2) 2022;
• State Environmental Planning Policy Amendment (Land Use Zones) (No 3) 2022;
• State Environmental Planning Policy Amendment (Land Use Zones) (No 4) 2022;
• State Environmental Planning Policy Amendment (Land Use Zones) (No 5) 2022;
• State Environmental Planning Policy Amendment (Land Use Zones) (No 6) 2022.

Of the six new SEPPs, all but one will commence on 26 April 2023.??

Additionally — as explained in last week’s article — there are transitional arrangements in place (which differ in some areas).?

For example, development that is permitted (with development consent) in an affected zone immediately before 26 April 2023 will continue to be permitted (with development consent) on the land until 26 April 2025 — even if it is prohibited under any new zone that commences on 26 April 2023.? The affected zones are the B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, B8, IN1, IN2, IN3 and IN4 zones.

However, it seems that this particular transitional measure will not apply to land that is rezoned under one of the new SEPPs just published, namely the State Environmental Planning Policy Amendment (Land Use Zones) (No 6) 2022 (SEPP Amendment No 6).?

This is because SEPP Amendment No 6 commenced immediately, on 16 December 2022.?(The web versions of the affected local environmental plans have not yet been updated by the Parliamentary Counsel’s office to reflect the amendments.?This will normally happen within several days.)

SEPP Amendment No 6 has deleted the existing business and industrial zones from the following local environmental plans and replaced them with new zones:

• Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022;
• Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Local Environmental Plan 2022;
• Ryde Local Environmental Plan 2010;
• Ryde Local Environmental Plan 2014;
• Shoalhaven Local Environmental Plan 2014;
• Sutherland Shire Local Environmental Plan 2015;
• Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012; and
• Wingecarribee Local Environmental Plan 2010.

The associated new zoning maps have been approved by the Minister, but they are not yet available online.?

Regretfully, this complex transition is likely to generate some confusion.?Mills Oakley is available to assist landowners and developers who encounter legal difficulties as a result.

Stop press: Subsequent to the above article being published, it has emerged that the Government made an error in relation to the commencement date of SEPP Amendment No 6. In an unusual legal manoeuvre, it has changed the commencement date for SEPP Amendment No 6 to match the other SEPPs. That is, for it to commence on 26 April 2023. The change in the date is documented in the oddly named Inner West Local Environmental Plan Amendment (Land Use Zones) 2022.

This means that above-mentioned changes to the LEPs below will now commence on 26 April 2023:

• Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022;
• Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Local Environmental Plan 2022;
• Ryde Local Environmental Plan 2010;
• Ryde Local Environmental Plan 2014;
• Shoalhaven Local Environmental Plan 2014;
• Sutherland Shire Local Environmental Plan 2015;
• Sydney Local Environmental Plan 2012; and
• Wingecarribee Local Environmental Plan 2010.