Blue Mountains Council has officially made amendments to its LEP to ensure outcomes resulting from the Low Rise Housing Diversity Code align with intended outcomes of the Blue Mountains LEP.

Duplex and townhouse minimum lot size requirements have been changed, as well as clause 4.1B(3) of the LEP. A summarised table of the changes is below.

Given the provisions in the Low-Rise Housing Diversity Code only refer to minimum lot size controls in an applicable LEP, it was previously possible for the smallest minimum lot size control to be used regardless of whether other criteria in the LEP was met. This is because the Code does not refer to the LEP’s criteria, only the lot size requirement.

What this meant is that although the LEP set a minimum lot size control of 1,100m² for dual occupancies if they are detached, a complying development under the Code could utilise the 720m² minimum lot size for the development of a detached dual occupancy. This is because the former clause 4.1B(3) allowed development of attached dual occupancies on lots as small as 720m² if one dwelling did not have a gross floor area exceeding 100m² .

To remove what was a loophole for development to occur under the Code on lots smaller than intended by Blue Mountains LEP, the newly gazetted LEP firstly seeks to introduce a single consistent minimum lot size of 1,000m² for dual occupancies. While this removes the current ability to develop attached dual occupancies on some lots, it will expand where detached dual occupancies can be built (which are more commonly sought in the Blue Mountains LGA). This is a compromise between maintaining opportunities for housing diversity under local controls and minimising the impacts of the Code.

The other element of the fresh gazettal is to introduce a minimum lot size for multi-dwelling housing and manor homes, as historically there have been no controls for these development types in Blue Mountains LGA. The absence of a minimum lot size control and the implementation of the Code could result in terrace houses on lots as small as 600m² with a 18 metre frontage. Council has indicated this is an undesirable outcome, as it would be inconsistent with the objectives of the zones specified for the purpose of multi-dwelling housing.

How these suite of changes will work when the new changes to create low and mid-rise housing, remains to be seen. For example, it is proposed duplexes can be permitted with consent across any R2 zone in NSW with a minimum lot size of 450m² and 12 metre frontage.