How NSW DPI is involved in land use planning and farm subdivision

Primary role and focus

Since the early 1980s NSW DPI’s primary role in land use planning and farm subdivision has been the provision of advice to local and state government. The control of land use planning and farm subdivision is primarily the responsibility of local government councils.

NSW DPI’s primary focus in the issues of land use planning and farm subdivision is on sustainable resource use and maintenance of sustainable agricultural development and production opportunities in the medium to long term. It is important to recognise the natural tension between this type of planning and the aspirations of individuals:

• Planning for agriculture requires a focus on the medium to long term, ensuring the maintenance and enhancement of natural resources and sustainable (profitable) development opportunities.
• The aspirations of individuals are more likely to involve the generation of wealth in the short to medium term. As such, resource use and development opportunities can be driven by short-term profit motives. The result can be the sale of these resources for residential or other non-agricultural developments, or the degradation of resources through overuse.

The plan making and development control processes

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 established the plan making and development control processes that are used today by state and local government. Plan making is the process of establishing the rules that govern how subdivision and development occur for a locality: for example regional and local environmental plans. Development control is the process of applying these rules on a case-by-case basis, through development applications. In response to requests from local government, NSW DPI provides advice in both of these areas.

Advice provided on plan making

The advice NSW DPI provides seeks to ensure that all plans provide:

• a stable regulatory environment for investment in agriculture;
• the capacity to avoid conflict between residential and agricultural neighbours;
• flexibility in the range of production systems that can be used; for example, the opportunity to use best agricultural practice with the minimum of regulatory interference;
• opportunities for a wide range of commodities to be sustainably produced;
• the retention of a critical mass of agricultural land providing a local market for agricultural support industries; for example processors and equipment retailers.

In order to produce plans that deliver these features, NSW DPI typically advises councils to identify the agricultural lands best suited to the production of a diverse range of products, or particularly suited to the production of a single product, for example bananas. Once identified, these lands should be zoned for agricultural production and supported by comprehensive zone objectives and appropriate development standards.

Advice provided on development control

NSW DPI’s role in development control is to advise councils on the agricultural impacts of a proposal. Naturally, NSW DPI will look to support agricultural industries by encouraging councils to promote sustainable agricultural developments. Where proposals are likely to restrict future agricultural development opportunities, NSW DPI will highlight to the council the disadvantages to the agricultural sector. Ultimately the decision to allow or refuse most developments, including subdivision, rests with the council.

In advising a council of the agricultural impacts of a proposal, NSW DPI must take into consideration:

• the rules established by the planning system for the locality;
• the impact on the long-term sustainability of agriculture in the locality;
• the potential for conflict between residential and farming neighbours;
• the impact on land and water resources used for agriculture.

It is important to note that despite a plan specifying a standard for subdivision or development, no automatic right to undertake this activity accrues to the landowner. Councils are compelled to assess each development application against a set of criteria before determining it. These criteria are listed in Section 79(c) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

Contacts

Your regional Agricultural Environment Officer will be able to help you understand the planning and development control provisions applying to your locality.

They may be contacted at the Department’s offices.