REG_042: NSW (2019) - SEPP (Primary Production and Rural Development), Sch 5 Rural land sharing communities

REG_042: NSW (2019) - SEPP (Primary Production and Rural Development), Sch 5 Rural land sharing communities

Source

https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/nsw197033.pdf — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)

Context: thesis · overseas regulatory comparator (community-scale planning pathways) · not an NI model input

Predecessor instrument - not current NSW law

The held document is the State Environmental Planning Policy (Primary Production and Rural Development) 2019 [NSW], compilation in force 17 July 2020. That instrument has since been repealed: its Schedule 5 “Rural land sharing communities” was carried over into the current State Environmental Planning Policy (Primary Production) 2021 (EPI 2021-729, in force 1 March 2022), whose text is not held. Use this page as evidence of the scheme’s design and lineage; any citation of current NSW law must be to the 2021 instrument by name and number, checked against the live consolidation.

Summary

A New South Wales state-level planning instrument whose Schedule 5, “Rural land sharing communities” (pp. 29-33), is the long-standing Australian statutory pathway for intentional rural communities: it lets a consent authority approve 3 or more dwellings on a single, collectively owned rural lot of at least 10 ha, with subdivision of the developed land prohibited REG_042. The scheme descends from the former SEPP No 15 - Rural Landsharing Communities (the held text cites that Policy as the continuing source of its “prime crop and pasture land” mapping and calls it “the former” Policy), was re-enacted in this 2019 SEPP, amended in July 2020, and was later carried into the current SEPP (Primary Production) 2021 (EPI 2021-729).

Its research value is as a comparator: New Zealand law contains no general-land, community-scale residential consent pathway (see regulatory_consenting_off_grid_nz), and the only structured community pathway it does contain is the NES-Papakāinga on Māori ancestral land (REG_011). NSW shows the general-land equivalent existing in legislation: a purpose-built scheme for “people who collectively own a single lot to erect multiple dwellings on that lot without dividing the lot”, with quantified density controls (up to a hard maximum of 80 dwellings on the largest sites), environmental siting limits, and communal self-management (water, waste, bushfire, internal roads and reticulation) as a mandatory consent consideration REG_042.

Key claims

- claim: "THE SCHEME'S PURPOSE IS COLLECTIVE OWNERSHIP WITHOUT SUBDIVISION. Sch 5 cl 2: 'This Schedule aims to encourage and facilitate the development of rural land sharing communities committed to environmentally sensitive and sustainable land use practices by— (a) enabling people who collectively own a single lot to erect multiple dwellings on that lot without dividing the lot (such as by subdivision or by contractual arrangements), and (b) enabling the sharing of facilities and resources to allow a wide range of communal rural living opportunities at a lower cost, and (c) facilitating development on rural land (preferably in a clustered style) without undue harm to the environment and without creating a demand for the unreasonable or uneconomic provision of public amenities or services, and (d) creating opportunities for an increase in rural population in areas that are experiencing population loss.'"
  source_location: "Schedule 5 cl 2 (Aims of Schedule), p. 30"
- claim: "THE CONSENT GATE. Sch 5 cl 4(1): 'The consent authority may grant development consent to development on land to which this Schedule applies for the purposes of 3 or more dwellings if satisfied of the following— (a) the land is a single lot with an area of not less than 10 hectares, (b) the height of any building on the land will not be more than 8 metres, (c) no more than 25% of the land is prime crop and pasture land and no building containing a dwelling will be on any such land, (d) no building will be on land that is a wildlife refuge, wildlife corridor or wildlife management area and the development will not adversely affect any such land, (e) the development will not include a camping ground, caravan park, eco-tourist facility or tourist and visitor accommodation, except where otherwise permissible on the land, (f) no building will be on land that has a slope in excess of 18 degrees or that is prone to mass movement, (g) the development is consistent with the aims of this Schedule.'"
  source_location: "Schedule 5 cl 4(1) (Rural land sharing community permitted with consent), p. 31"
- claim: "QUANTIFIED DENSITY CONTROL, TO A HARD CEILING OF 80 DWELLINGS. Sch 5 cl 7(1): consent must not be granted if development would result in more than '(a) if the land has an area of 10 hectares or more but not more than 210 hectares—4 dwellings plus 1 additional dwelling for every 4 hectares of land greater than 10 hectares, (b) if the land has an area of 210 hectares or more—54 dwellings plus 1 additional dwelling for every 6 hectares of land greater than 210 hectares up to a maximum of 80 dwellings.' And cl 7(2) caps occupancy: consent must not be granted if 'the number of persons reasonably accommodated in all the dwellings on the land' would be 'greater than 4 times the maximum number of dwellings otherwise permitted by this clause.'"
  source_location: "Schedule 5 cl 7 (Density of development), p. 32"
- claim: "SUBDIVISION IS PROHIBITED ONCE THE COMMUNITY IS BUILT. Sch 5 cl 8: 'Subdivision (other than a subdivision permitted under clause 2.75 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008) of land is prohibited if development has been carried out on the land under this Schedule or under provisions similar to this Schedule.' A small-typeface Note to the clause adds: 'There should be no application for a strata certificate under this Schedule as subdivision is prohibited.' [the Note is guidance text, not operative clause text]"
  source_location: "Schedule 5 cl 8 (Subdivision prohibited), p. 32"
- claim: "WHERE IT APPLIES. Sch 5 cl 1: 'This Schedule applies as if it formed part of each of the following local environmental plans and has effect despite any other provision of those plans' - 16 operative local environmental plan entries (a 17th entry, cl 1(e), is marked '(Repealed)'): Bega Valley (2002 and 2013), Bellingen 2010, Clarence Valley 2011, Coffs Harbour 2013, Gloucester 2010, Great Lakes 2014, Guyra 2012, Inverell 2012, Kyogle 2012, Nambucca 2010, Port Stephens 2013, Richmond Valley 2012, Tenterfield 2013, Tweed (2000 and 2014). Sch 5 cl 3: 'This Schedule applies to land in any rural zone but not to the following land—' excluding environmentally sensitive areas (Standard Instrument cl 3.3), wilderness-protection-agreement land, forestry areas, and special or controlled areas under the Hunter Water, Sydney Water and Water NSW Acts."
  source_location: "Schedule 5 cll 1 and 3, pp. 29-31"
- claim: "COMMUNAL SELF-MANAGEMENT IS A CONSENT CONDITION. Sch 5 cl 5: the consent authority must take into account 'the arrangements for operating and managing the community' (among design, site characteristics, services availability, environmental impact). Sch 5 cl 6: consent must not be granted 'unless it is satisfied that adequate provision will be made for the following— (a) water and waste management, (b) prevention, control and management of soil erosion, (c) bush fire management, (d) flora and fauna management, including the control of noxious weeds and noxious animals, (e) provision and maintenance of internal roads, boundary fences, water reticulation, service corridors for telephone and electricity cables and similar matters.' And cl 9 lets the authority treat 2 or more dwellings as a single dwelling where, 'having regard to the sharing of any cooking or other facilities', 'the dwellings comprise a single household.'"
  source_location: "Schedule 5 cll 5, 6 and 9, pp. 31-32"
- claim: "LINEAGE AND CURRENCY OF THE HELD TEXT. Status information: 'Current version for 17 July 2020 to date (accessed 1 September 2020 at 00:25)', 'certified as the form of that legislation that is correct under section 45C of the Interpretation Act 1987' (NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Office). The Schedule descends from SEPP No 15: cl 4(2)(a) defines prime crop and pasture land as 'land identified as prime crop and pasture land under State Environmental Planning Policy No 15—Rural Landsharing Communities as in force immediately before the repeal of that Policy', and the cl 8 note cites 'the former State Environmental Planning Policy No 15—Rural Landsharing Communities'. Sch 5 was amended by 'State Environmental Planning Policy (Primary Production and Rural Development) Amendment (Rural Land Sharing Communities) 2020. LW 17.7.2020.'"
  source_location: "p. 1 (Status information); Schedule 5 cl 4(2)(a) p. 31; cl 8 note p. 32; Historical notes (Table of amending instruments; Table of amendments, 'Sch 5'), p. 34"

Relevance

A general-land existence proof. The central finding of regulatory_consenting_off_grid_nz is that New Zealand law provides no structured community-scale residential pathway on general land: the one structured pathway (NES-Papakāinga, REG_011) is tied to Māori ancestral land status, and every general-land instrument tops out at a single dwelling or actively avoids a community. NSW Schedule 5 is the overseas counter-example: a state planning instrument that, on ordinary collectively owned rural land, permits with consent exactly the thing a rural eco-community is: 3 or more dwellings on one undivided lot of 10 ha or more, clustered, sharing facilities, with a density formula scaling to a maximum of 80 dwellings and an occupancy cap of 4 persons per permitted dwelling REG_042. The lineage (the former SEPP No 15 scheme carried through the 2019 SEPP into the current 2021 SEPP) shows the pathway has been maintained across successive instruments rather than being a one-off experiment REG_042.

The design details carry the comparison. The scheme pairs enablement with the same controls a NZ equivalent would need: environmental siting limits (25% cap on prime crop and pasture land, no dwellings on it; 18-degree slope limit; wildlife-land exclusions; 8 m height limit), an anti-speculation lock (subdivision and strata prohibited once developed), an anti-commercialisation lock (no tourist accommodation or camping-ground uses), and communal self-provision of water, waste, bushfire management and internal infrastructure as a mandatory consent consideration REG_042. Clause 9’s single-household aggregation even anticipates cohousing-style shared kitchens REG_042.

Not an NI input. This is comparator evidence about planning law in another jurisdiction; no engine cell draws a number from it.

Research targets

None new. This source supplies the overseas-comparator limb contemplated by the closed general-community-pathway question (RT_346) and opens nothing.

Notes

• Predecessor status (repeat of the banner, because it governs citation): the held instrument is repealed. The current carrier of the Schedule 5 scheme is the SEPP (Primary Production) 2021 (EPI 2021-729), Schedule 5, in force 1 March 2022 - text not held. The carry-over into the 2021 SEPP is context, not verified against a held copy of the 2021 text; verify against the live NSW consolidation before any currency-sensitive use.
• data_quality: verified on the read: the raw is the NSW Parliamentary Counsel’s Office certified compilation text and every key claim is quoted verbatim via pdftotext -layout with clause and page. The one integrity caveat is that the copy is the UN FAO FAOLEX mirror rather than a direct download from legislation.nsw.gov.au; the PCO certification block and internal consistency of the compilation support authenticity. A reviewer preferring live-source confirmation could downgrade to high.
• SEPP No 15 date: the predecessor SEPP No 15 - Rural Landsharing Communities dates from 1988 (context; the held text confirms the Policy’s existence and repeal but not its year of making).
• The scheme was actively maintained late in this instrument’s life: the Rural Land Sharing Communities amendment of 17 July 2020 (2020 (418)) amended Sch 5 shortly before the 2021 re-enactment.

Connections

Links to

Concepts (1): Regulatory Consenting for Off-Grid Communities…

Sources (1): REG_011

Referenced by

Concepts (1): Regulatory Consenting for Off-Grid Communities…