NSW proposes simpler industrial land rules and 50ha-a-year target

The NSW Government opened public consultation on 29 October on simpler planning rules for industrial and employment land, Planning and Public Spaces Minister Paul Scully announced. The Minns Labor Government package pairs modernised, more flexible controls for industrial and employment land generally with a draft Industrial Lands Categorisation for Regional NSW, the Central Coast and the Lower Hunter.

The general controls propose streamlined approval pathways for distribution centres, multi-storey warehouses and facilities for online retail, freight and logistics. The categorisation proposal would classify industrial land across Regional NSW, the Central Coast and the Lower Hunter as state, regionally or locally significant.

Both proposals went on public exhibition on 29 October and close at 5pm on Thursday, 26 November, a consultation window of roughly four weeks. The government has also flagged separate minor amendments to existing industrial land controls, due before the end of the year and ahead of the categorisation exhibition closing.

Why it matters

A distribution centre, multi-storey warehouse or online retail, freight or logistics facility is named directly in the proposed rules as a use the streamlined approval pathways are designed for. The categorisation proposal would classify industrial land across Regional NSW, the Central Coast and the Lower Hunter into the same three tiers, state, regionally or locally significant, that the government set out in the 29 October release.

Scully said: “Fairer, clearer, simpler rules cut red tape, back business investment and lift productivity.” Both proposals remain on exhibition rather than in force, so the planning controls currently applying to industrial land continue to govern any development application lodged while submissions are open.

The numbers

The release sets indicative annual targets for development-ready industrial land: 50 hectares a year for the Central Coast and the Lower Hunter combined, and 40 hectares a year for Regional NSW. Those are targets for land made development-ready under the categorisation, stated alongside the proposal rather than as a count of land already delivered. The 50-hectare and 40-hectare figures are described in the release as indicative only, not final supply commitments.

The government has also nominated Investigation Areas to examine where infrastructure or servicing constraints are limiting the supply of industrial land in the regions covered by the categorisation. A recent transaction shows there is already demand for existing industrial stock in NSW: Dream Haven’s $47.75 million purchase of a six-tenancy industrial portfolio in Epping shows that demand in Sydney, though Epping sits outside the regions the categorisation covers. Both the categorisation proposal and the general industrial and employment land controls are open for submissions for the same four-week window, closing at 5pm on Thursday, 26 November.

What’s next

Submissions on the categorisation and on the general industrial and employment land controls close at 5pm on Thursday, 26 November. The Minns government will use that consultation to settle final versions of both the categorisation tiers for Regional NSW, the Central Coast and the Lower Hunter, and the streamlined approval pathways for distribution centres, warehouses and logistics facilities.

Separately, minor amendments to existing industrial land controls are due before the end of the year, running ahead of and independent of the categorisation exhibition timeline. The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure is running those amendments in response to stakeholder feedback. The release says this exhibition completes every action under the Industrial Lands Action Plan, whose first step, the Statewide Policy for Industrial Lands, was finalised in August.