FAQs

Planning controls are the rules that guide how land can be used and developed. They help ensure new buildings, subdivisions, and land uses fit with the character of local areas, protect the environment, and support good urban design.

In Sutherland Shire, planning controls are set out in the Local Environmental Plans (LEP) and the Development Control Plans (DCP)

• The LEP establishes zoning, building heights, land uses, and environmental protections.

• The DCP provides more detailed design and development guidelines, such as landscaping, parking, setbacks, and stormwater requirements.

Any change to the LEP must go through a formal process known as a Planning Proposal, which involves technical assessment, public exhibition, and approval by the NSW Government.

You can learn more about Council’s planning framework here.

The changes aim to balance providing enough off-street parking with supporting other ways of getting around, such as walking, cycling, and public transport.

They also include clearer rules for electric vehicle charging, car share spaces, and travel plans for new developments. This helps put Council’s transport and sustainability goals into action.

The update supports Council’s endorsed strategies, which includes a goal to regularly review parking rates to make sure they reflect changing transport needs and development patterns.

Under the proposed changes, new developments in areas that are located close to train stations, buses, and walking or cycling routes will be encouraged to provide fewer parking spaces.

This helps shift travel habits toward public and active transport and brings several benefits:

• Developers and owners can save on construction costs by reducing the amount of costly basement or structured parking.
• Residents and visitors are encouraged to walk, cycle, or use public transport to reach shops and services.
• Local businesses benefit from more people walking through centres and better parking turnover.
• The community experiences less congestion and reduced demand for parking, supporting more sustainable travel choices.

Reducing parking in the right places helps create more affordable developments, livelier centres, and connected local hubs where people can live, work, and visit more easily.

The change allows up to four off-street parking spaces per dwelling. This gives property owners more flexibility and helps reduce pressure on street parking, especially in areas where garages are used for storage.

It’s a maximum, not a requirement and owners can still choose to provide fewer spaces if they wish.

A single, consistent parking rate is being proposed for these developments across Sutherland Shire. This aims to ensure there’s enough off-street parking for residents and visitors, which in turn reduces pressure on local streets. Developers can choose to achieve this standard of parking. However, a development application for residential flat buildings (including shop top housing) that meets the GTIA parking rates cannot be refused on parking.

More parking provision, particularly in busy centres, can lead to more traffic congestion. More parking can also have higher construction costs, which can affect housing prices.

Council has tried to strike a fair balance between convenience, cost, and sustainability.

A minimum rate is the smallest number of spaces a development must include.

A maximum rate sets the upper limit and allows extra garage spaces to be added if they meet design rules, without being counted in the total building floor area.

Council wants to make it easier for people to park off the street at home.

Many residents use their garages as extra storage space, which means they can't park their cars in the garage—adding pressure to street parking.

To help, Council is allowing up to four parking spaces in a ground level garage that won’t count toward the building’s total floor space (Gross Floor Area). While this may alleviate street parking pressures, the change will lead to larger buildings, which can affect the character of an area.

There’s no set limit on basement parking spaces as long as the existing objectives and controls for basements are satisfied in the relevant SSDCP2015 chapter/s.
Basement spaces don’t count towards the total Gross Floor Area (GFA), but the basement can’t extend beyond the footprint of the dwelling.

A Green Travel Plan (GTP) is designed to encourage more sustainable ways of getting around for both residents and visitors. It aims to reduce reliance on private cars which may include options like car sharing, walking, cycling, and using public transport.

Under the proposed amendments, all non-residential buildings and shop top housing that meet specific criteria will be required to prepare a GTP as part of their approval.

The amendments aim to require all off-street parking spaces in new developments to have electrical infrastructure to accommodate EV charging. This means new developments will be “EV-ready,” even if chargers aren’t installed right away.

The NSW Guide to Transport Impact Assessment (GTIA) explains how to assess the transport and traffic effects of new developments. 

It helps developers and councils understand when studies are needed and what information to include so transport impacts can be properly managed. 

In this context, the GTIA provides industry standard parking rates, which are determined by factors such as access to public transport, local amenities, and how easy it is to walk or cycle in the area

The parking rates in the GTIA are generally lower than those proposed by Council in the DCP changes.

Council cannot refuse a development application for residential flat buildings (including shop top housing) that meets the GTIA parking rates, but developers can choose to provide more parking, up to the proposed rates, if they believe it is needed.

Some parking and access rules are staying the same, including:

Parking and access

• Accessible parking requirements
• Bicycle parking and end-of-trip facilities
• Number of driveway access points per dwelling

Parking rates for the following uses

• Secondary dwellings and dual occupancies
• Bed and breakfast accommodation, hotels, motels, serviced apartments, backpacker accommodation
• Industrial retail outlets and restricted premises
• Vehicle repair workshops
• Depots, warehouses or distribution centres
• Health consulting rooms
• Marinas and caravan park/ecotourist facilities