Draft Amendments to Sutherland Shire Development Control Plan 2015 - Special Entertainment Precinct, Cronulla

We are proposing amendments to the Sutherland Shire Development Control Plan (DCP) 2015, to assist the delivery of a Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP) in Cronulla.

Changes to the DCP are necessary to ensure that future developments are appropriately planned and designed to integrate with the SEP initiative.

What's changing

• A new chapter will be added to explain the SEP initiative and how it works, and complementary changes are proposed to other existing chapters.
• The changes aim to ensure that, as new development happens in Cronulla over time, venues and other land uses (such as residential accommodation) are carefully planned and compatible.
• An ‘agent of change’ rule will apply - meaning whoever is making the change (including new or modified venues or residential buildings) is responsible for managing and reducing noise impacts.
• New and upgraded venues and buildings may need to implement noise-reducing measures.
• Clear guidance will be added on when an acoustic report is needed, who can prepare it, and what it must show.

Proposed Cronulla Special Entertainment Precinct

Between March and April 2026, we consulted with our community about a proposed Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP) in Cronulla.

The proposal included:

• Flexible trading hours - businesses are more easily able to extend their operating hours when they comply with entertainment-related activity sound limits.
• Entertainment sound controls - all venues must stay within set sound limits, and new developments are required to consider the need for sound‑insulated design.

The proposed DCP changes are the next step to safeguard the key policy elements, and apply them to new and modified development in Cronulla.

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. You can find out more about the feedback received on our Join the Conversation webpage.

Want more detail?

You can find out more detail in our FAQs which provide a more comprehensive breakdown of the proposed changes.

You can also review the Draft DCP Amendment Chapter 45 - Special Entertainment Precincts and associated Chapters that have updates in the document library on this page. The documents include tracked changes, with amendments shown as highlighted or red underlined text.

📢 Have your say

We are seeking feedback on the changes to the DCP relating to a SEP in Cronulla. You can provide feedback until 30 June 2026 by:

• Completing the online submission form (you may attach a submission here as well)
• Emailing us at urbanfutures@ssc.nsw.gov.au
• Writing to Urban Futures, Sutherland Shire Council, Locked Bag 17, Sutherland 1499.

Next steps

Following community consultation, Council will carefully review and consider all feedback received on the proposed DCP changes. The proposed changes will be reported to Council for a decision. Council will continue reviewing and considering submissions received from the proposed Special Entertainment Precinct (SEP) consultation. If Council decides to proceed with the proposal, a 12-month trial period will be implemented to evaluate the successes of a SEP. We expect a trial to start from mid-2026.