De—coding Phase 3 of the Planning and Design Code — Paper 3 — Rural Zone and Adelaide Country Zone
7 December 2020
The release of the amended Draft Phase 3 Planning and Design Code and accompanying Phase Three (Urban Areas) Planning and Design Code Amendment Summary of Post-Consultation Amendments November 2020 report allows all councils one final opportunity to review and ‘road-test’ the Code before its final implementation at an as-yet unconfirmed date in 2021.
Continuing our support for councils during the implementation of the PDI Act, Kelledy Jones Lawyers, together with Development Answers have reviewed these documents and offer a number of observations and comments for consideration during the preparation of council submissions.
Our earlier Papers in this series can be found here and here.
We encourage all councils to carefully consider and review these documents as the Code amendments will apply across the State and there are a number of new Zones and policies which are intended to address and/or clarify Phase 2 policy anomalies and/or omissions.
Rural Zone
The Rural Zone will replace the current Primary Production Zones and similar Zones in council Development Plans.
In reviewing the Rural Zone, we note that it contains more than 100 pages – most of these pages are the Development Classification Tables.
In addition, the Zone is subject to several Overlays and TNVs which must be carefully considered in determining the nature of a proposed development and in relevant assessments. It is imperative that all Zone boundaries, Overlays and TNVs in all council areas are carefully reviewed.
Specific observations include:
PO 1.1 and its DTS/DPF 1.1 of the dwelling excision overlay are contradictory – the PO allows for the creation of an additional lot in certain cases, whereas the DTS/DPF says ‘no additional allotments are created’’ – this needs simple refinement as the overlay is specifically intended to allow additional lots in the circumstances.
We are pleased to note that it is intended to exclude Frost Fans from the definition of Agricultural Building, thereby averting the potential for an as-of-right, Deemed to Satisfy approval for development that needs careful consideration of noise and visual impacts – when reading Part 7 of the Code you will need to refer to the sixth heading ‘Land Use Definitions Table’ and not the first heading ‘Land Use Terms’. Although we support a definition change, there is now the need for detailed policy for Performance Assessed applications, for Frost Fans.
We compliment the changes to this Zone which now require less restrictions on public notification in rural areas and for the exemption for placing a sign on the land in designated zones.
Adelaide Country Zone
The Code has introduced the Adelaide Country Zone, as shown below.
Source:- SAPPA Code mapping – Adelaide Country Zone in light green
In response to various submissions the proposed new name Adelaide Country Zone seeks to apply a new naming convention that better reflects the intent of the zone.
There may be differing views on the name of the zone with the word “Adelaide” and “Country” in the same zone name, but it is the zone policy that is more important – the zone affects key iconic areas such of the Mount Lofty Ranges, southern Barossa Valley region and the Fleurieu Peninsula. Various rural areas of the Barossa Valley are now within the Adelaide Country Zone, the Rural Zone and the Rural Horticulture Zone. The former Peri-Urban Zone no longer applies.
Specific observations include:
General comments
We note that it is difficult to reconcile changes between the 2019 consultation version of the Code and the current November 2020 version – and more so for the general public.
Although we understand the Rules of Interpretation for the Code, we continue to query the use of Deemed to Satisfy criteria (via use of the same Designated Performance Feature – DPF) for Performance Assessment purposes within zones. This may lead to varying levels of interpretation and uncertainly across the sector.
The Notification Table in most of the zones needs minor redrafting. That is, we are advised the separate entries in the table are to be read in isolation of each other, yet each entry says ‘subject to 1…..’ – if this is the case the ‘subject to 1…..’ should be deleted. Either way, the drafting should be altered to provide for easier interpretation and to avoid potential for legal challenges. We note that the State Planning Commission is aware of this and plans to address the matter.
For further information regarding the draft Code, please contact:
Victoria Shute
08 8113 7104 |
David Altmann
answers@developmentanswers.com.au 08 8531 1600 |
Emily Nankivell enankivell@kelledyjones.com.au 08 8113 7114 |
LINKS TO PAST PAPERS: