Under Part 3A of the EP&A Act, agencies must obtain approval from the Minister for Planning for all major buildings and infrastructure proposals listed in the Major Projects State Environmental Planning Policy (“SEPP”)23 as well as for infrastructure projects which are likely to significantly affect the environment. Projects may include hospital projects with a capital investment value of more than $15M or education or corrective services projects with a capital investment value of more than $30M.
Project applications must be accompanied by an Environmental Assessment (EA). The project application and EA must be exhibited with an invitation for public comment.
For complex projects or projects being developed in stages, a concept plan can be approved first, with the project details being determined later consistent with the approved concept plan.
There should be early consultation with the Department of Planning to obtain the EA requirements, which will vary on a project by project basis, and to determine if the project is permissible under the relevant planning scheme and appropriate for the site. If all or part of the project is permissible, then the Minister can determine the project without a rezoning.
If the entire project is prohibited under the local environment plan (LEP) or other planning instrument, approval must be sought to change the zoning. If the Minister supports the proposal proceeding, the Major Projects SEPP can be used to efficiently rezone the site to permit the project.
In some cases the Minister may require a new planning regime to be developed for the entire site. In these cases, the site would be declared a State Significant Site (SSS) and would be listed in Schedule 3 of the Major Projects SEPP along with the new planning provisions. In some cases a concept plan can be assessed and determined concurrently with the development of the new planning regime and the listing of the State Significant Site in Schedule 3 of the SEPP.
_______________________________________________________________________________
23 Full text of the Major Projects SEPP 2005 is available at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg /seppp2005512/.