Passed - New NSW planning laws aim to speed up housing

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning System Reforms) Bill 2025 was passed by the Parliament on 11 November 2025.

It has not yet come into force, with some commencing parts subject to amendments to other legislative instruments.

This is an update from our earlier alerts discussing the bill as first introduced to Parliament.

Our earlier alert regarding amendments to the objects of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (EPA Act), can be found here.

The passed bill has amended Objectives a) and g) to read as follows (changes shown in bold):

(a) to promote the social and economic welfare of the community and a better environment by the proper management development and conservation of the State’s natural and other resources.

(g) to promote good design, amenity and the proper construction and maintenance of built environments including the protection of the health and safety of the occupants of buildings.

Our earlier alert discussing targeted assessment development (TDA), can be found here.

The passed bill now provides for the following:

Development is declared to be TAD under a State environmental planning policy (SEPP) (under the new section 4.20A).

TAD is controversial because TAD does not require environmental impact assessment.

The latest amendment is to insert a new section 4.20A(5) that provides that a SEPP must not declare designated development to be TAD.

Our earlier alert on changes to Part 4 of the EPA Act can be found here. 

The passed bill amends section 4.57(1):

Currently section 4.57(1) of the EPA Act (Revocation or modification of development consent) empowers the Planning Secretary with respect to a proposed SEPP or a council with respect to a proposed Local environmental plan (LEP) to revoke or modify a development consent that is in force that in the view of the Secretary or a council should not be carried out or completed except with modifications.

The original bill proposed to allow the Planning Secretary or a council that is a consent authority to revoke or modify a development consent based on a proposed or an existing environmental planning instrument (EPI).  However, this has now been modified so that councils cannot exercise that function with respect to existing LEPs only proposed LEPs and the Planning Secretary may only exercise the function in relation to an existing EPI with respect to a consent granted prior to a prescribed period (which section 16A of the EPA Regulations as amended has set at 25 years).

The first print of the bill proposed amendment to section 3.22(1)(c1) concerned making of expedited amendment to an EPI to deal with matters that the Housing Delivery Authority considered necessary to enable the carrying out of State significant development (similar to the current provisions which allow the NSW Reconstruction Authority to make changes to an EPI where it considers it necessary under its legislation). This has been amended to insert the word “reasonably” before necessary. We consider that this imposes a more objective (and reviewable) standard of necessity.

The proposed omission of section 4.14 (Consultation and development consent—certain bush fire prone land) has been scrapped.

Currently section 4.14(1) of the EPA Act requires a consent authority to first, reach a state of satisfaction that the development conforms to the Planning for Bush Fire Protection policy, and secondly, to see a certificate from a qualified consultant on bush fire risk assessment stating that the development confirms to the relevant requirements.

Section 4.14 will now be amended so as to say that the relevant Bush Fire Protection Planning guide must be considered in relation to development on bush fire prone land.  This downgrades the policy (now a guide) to a mandatory relevant consideration from a de facto standard.  The current subsection (1A) has been replaced and it will provide that section 4.14(1) does not apply to an application for development for a subdivision of land that could lawfully be used for residential or rural residential purposes, or development for special fire protection purposes.

Our earlier alert on changes to Part 5 of the EPA Act can be found here. No material changes have been made to the bill as originally introduced.

Our earlier summary alert on the whole of the bill as originally introduced, can be found here.