Housing Boost for Bellingen

Message from Bellingen Sire Council

12 Aug 2010

The new shire wide Bellingen Local Environmental Plan 2010 was gazetted on Friday 6th August 2010 and a copy of the press release from the Minister for Planning is below.

6 August, 2010

HOUSING BOOST FOR BELLINGEN

The NSW Government has approved a new council-wide plan for Bellingen Shire which will meet the Shire’s housing needs into the future.

Minister for Planning, Tony Kelly, said the council’s local environmental plan (LEP) set the direction for future land use and sustainable urban growth within the Shire.

“The LEP will support the additional 1,200 residents who are expected to live in the Shire by 2036,” the Minister said.

“To do so, the plan includes two major land releases, including potential for 190 new residential lots at North Bellingen and potential for 110 new lots at Nobles Lane south of Bellingen.

“The LEP also protects the Shire’s valuable natural assets – including environmental, agricultural and rural lands – through appropriate zonings.

“To protect local biodiversity, provisions have been included in the LEP to ensure a rigorous assessment of any proposed development near waterways or on land containing significant native vegetation.

“By constraining future development to the mapped growth areas, a series of green breaks between settlements have been protected from development.

“The LEP also includes provisions to ensure affordable rental housing stocks are not impacted by any re-development of caravan parks.”

The LEP builds on the council’s strategic planning work undertaken to date, including the 2007 Bellingen Shire Growth Management Strategy (GMS), and 2003 Bellingen residential land and industrial land strategies.

Bellingen Shire Council was awarded a total of $140,000 to progress the GMS and the comprehensive LEP.

The Minister said the plan had been prepared based on the Government’s standard template, which aims to clarify and simplify State planning controls.

“The standard template provides consistency in the format and layout of council-wide LEPs, while allowing councils the flexibility to address specific local planning issues,” the Minister said.

This article can be found on the web at:

http://bellingen.local-e.nsw.gov.au/news/pages/11094.html