Overview

A Local Environmental Plan is the main planning tool for shaping the future of communities and ensuring local development is undertaken appropriately. It provides a framework that guides planning decisions for local government areas through zoning and development controls.

Zoning determines how land can be used (for example, for housing, industry or recreation) and development controls set guidelines such as the maximum building height allowed.

The plan includes a written statement and a number of maps that show how the various zones and controls work.

Currently MidCoast Council operates under three Local Environmental Plans – the Great Lakes, Greater Taree and Gloucester plans.

Since those three former councils were merged into MidCoast Council in 2016 we have been working towards a consolidated MidCoast Local Environmental Plan.

This will provide a clear set of rules that are consistent across the MidCoast.

To prepare for this we have been undertaking community consultation and developing a range of studies over the past few years. These studies have formed the foundation of our new draft Local Environmental Plan.

Following endorsement at the October 2023 meeting of the elected Council the draft MidCoast Local Environmental Plan was submitted to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment for a gateway determination to start community consultation on the draft plan. We are currently awaiting that determination.

Next Steps

To be notified when community consultation on the draft MidCoast LEP starts, register today and click '+ Follow' at the top of this page to receive updates on the project.

Background

In preparing our draft Local Environment Plan we have consulted with the community on a range of important rural and urban strategies that provide the foundation for our new overarching plan. To read those strategies and see how they were shaped, explore our ‘know your rural zone’ and ‘know your urban zone’ projects.