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ARTICLE · 13 AUGUST 2026

NSW Planning Reforms Bring Deemed Approval, Tighter Deadlines And Increased Pressure

Bartier Perry Solicitors
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The second tranche of NSW planning law reforms commenced on 21 March 2026 and are already changing how councils manage development assessment. This second tranche of reforms place emphasis on councils and consent authorities to provide timely determinations, identify issues with applications and to provide clear communication with applicants.

AustraliaEnvironment
Laura Raffaele
Laura Raffaele
Monique Lewis
Monique Lewis
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The second tranche of NSW planning law reforms commenced on 21 March 2026 and are already changing how councils manage development assessment. 

This second tranche of reforms place emphasis on councils and consent authorities to provide timely determinations, identify issues with applications and to provide clear communication with applicants.

It is important for councils to understand the newly imposed timeframes for determinations, reviews and appeal processes, particularly in light of the new deemed approval pathway available for certain ‘lowrisk’ developments.

For councils and other consent authorities, the reforms compress timeframes for certain modification applications by introducing a 14-day determination period and a new deemed approval pathway, and extend the window in which applicants can seek reviews and commence appeals. The combined effect is greater resourcing pressure through the tighter timeframes and the risk of a deemed approval if an application is not

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