Draft NSW Design and Place SEPP heralds major changes and reveals some surprises

The release of the draft NSW Design and Place State Environmental Planning Policy (DP SEPP) is a significant milestone in the State Government's efforts to simplify the State's planning system but has attracted immediate criticism from the development industry.

The draft instrument confirms a number of the Government's intentions made clear during the first round of public consultation on the DP SEPP in early 2021, which we discussed here. It also reveals various new features, some of which are likely to alarm development proponents.

Key takeaways

The key takeaways from the DP SEPP are that:

• the draft DP SEPP consolidates a number of existing design controls and introduces new design and place principles into many types of developments;