In response to this concern, council has prepared a planning proposal to update the Waverley LEP by adding a new clause 6.18 that seeks to preserve dwelling numbers in R3 and R4 residential zones. This clause will only apply to DA for residential accommodation (other than boarding houses, co-living housing, group homes and residential care facilities) lodged with council after the date the proposal is finalised.

The specific wording of clause 6.18 is subject to drafting by the NSW Parliamentary Counsel. The below is an example for discussion purposes:

6.18 Residential Dwelling Density in Zone R3 and R4 zones

(1) The objectives of this clause are as follows —

• (a) To ensure that the carrying out of development on any site within the R3 and R4 zones should not result in a reduction in the number of dwellings that existed on the site as of [date of Planning Proposal Gazettal].
• (b) To ensure that the number of dwellings on any site are maintained or increased to meet the demand of the area’s existing and projected population;
• (c) To maintain or increase residential dwelling density within the R3 and R4 zones, which are well serviced areas with public transport and access to social infrastructure, essential services, community and cultural services, and open space and recreation;

(2) This clause applies to land in Zone R3 Medium Density Residential and R4 High Density Residential.

(3) This clause applies to development for the purposes of residential accommodation, except for boarding houses, co-living housing, group homes, and residential care facilities.

(4) Development consent must not be granted or a development consent must not be modified for development to which this clause applies unless the consent authority is satisfied that the residential dwelling density of the development site is not being reduced by more than 15% (rounded to the nearest whole dwelling number) compared to the constructed residential dwelling density on the site on . Where the nearest whole number is 0, the number may be rounded to 1.

(5) In this clause ‘residential dwelling density’ refers to the number of residential dwellings across one site and does not relate to the gross floor area (GFA) of buildings containing dwellings, bedroom numbers or the number of occupants that any dwelling is capable of containing