FAQs

The project team will review all the feedback we heard from the community during the engagement period. 

All feedback is important and is one factor in the decision-making process for Council. The graphic below shows some of the factors we consider in our decision making:

The feedback received through the online survey and submissions will be reviewed by Council staff and used to refine the draft Local Strategic Planning Statement. 

A future report to Council will include an overview of feedback received during this period. 

A post exhibition report will then be considered by Councillors, who will decide whether the amended draft Local Strategic Planning Statement should be adopted.

The project team will consider all feedback received and the draft Planning Statement may be varied as necessary. 

The NSW Government requires Council’s to prepare and make Local Strategic Planning Statement's. The requirement to have a Local Strategic Planning Statement and what it needs to include, is set out in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

Local Strategic Planning Statements are a pivotal tool for local strategic planning in NSW. They inform local statutory plans and development controls and give effect to regional plans. The Local Strategic Planning Statement can also identify where further strategic planning effort may be needed.

The statements act as a unifying document drawing together and summarising planning priorities identified through State, regional, district and local strategic work. They provide the local context and local-scale expression of actions and priorities from these plans.

In practice, the statements shape how the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plans will evolve over time.

The Community Strategic Plan is Council’s highest-level plan, required under the Local Government Act. It sets a 10-year vision for the whole community, covering big-picture goals like sustainability, wellbeing, economy and inclusion. The Local Strategic Planning Statement takes a more focused look at how we plan land use for housing, jobs and infrastructure over a 20-year horizon, supporting the broader vision of the Community Strategic Plan.

Our Local Environmental Plan can be amended through a planning proposal process. Planning proposals can be council led or led by external proponents. A Local Strategic Planning Statement should make clear Council’s future land use intentions, to reduce the likelihood of a planning proposal progressing that is inconsistent with or detrimental to the agreed values and priorities of the community and place.

Legislation requires updates to occur at least every seven years. The Local Strategic Planning Statement guideline recommends they should be revised on an ongoing basis to ensure they reflect the community’s views on the future desired state of the local area and to ensure it remains responsive, relevant and local. Since the adoption of the 2020 Local Strategic Planning Statement we have a new Illawarra Shoalhaven Regional Plan 2041, there has been State policy shifts and Council has adopted a new Community Strategic Plan and is considering another, as well as several key land use planning strategies (housing, centres, industrial, climate change). We have also seen some major proposals occur over the last few years. Now is a good time to revise and refresh.

Council has committed to a range of planning policy actions through our contemporary strategies. The draft Local Strategic Planning Statement includes a summary implementation plan which outlines which strategies are relevant to each planning priority, as well as noting where there has been a commitment to prepare new or updated strategies. In addition to this, the plan also highlights the services of Council which deliver on the planning priorities as part of their core business.

The Wollongong Local Environmental Plan (2009) is a legal document made under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) (the Act). Local Environmental Plans provide a framework that guides planning decisions for local government areas through zoning and development controls. Zoning determines how land can be used (for example, for housing, industry or recreation) and development controls set guidelines such as the maximum building height allowed. A Planning Proposal is a request to amend the Local Environmental Plan and includes documentation that describes the outcome and justification for a Local Environmental Plan amendment. Council or a Government Agency can initiate a Planning Proposal based on a strategic direction or policy, or a landowner may request Council to consider an amendment. Information on Planning Proposals, and the process of making and amending a Local Environmental Plan, is provided by the Department of NSW Planning and Environment. Council provides information about Planning Proposals here, and in our Planning Proposal Policy.

No, the Local Strategic Planning Statement will not change land use zones or planning controls. The draft Local Strategic Planning Statement identifies some proposed areas where planning controls may change in the future and also discussed areas where state government planning policy has enabled increased heights and floorspace. Council welcomes your feedback on these. Any future amendments to planning policy will be subject to a statutory processes including community engagement.