Compliance Obligations for Planning Proposals to Align with Strategic Plans
Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2025
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council
Assent
Introduced by: The Hon Paul Scully MP (ALP); The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Scott Farlow LIB
“On behalf of the Opposition, I speak in debate on the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2025. I note Minister Scully’s presence in the gallery tonight, late on a Thursday night. From the outset, I thank him for his consultation with the Opposition on the bill. In large part, we agree with the substantive reforms and amendments that the bill proposes.”
Sue Higginson GRN
“The Greens do not oppose the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2025, despite holding reservations about some of the bill’s schedules. I acknowledge that the Government has taken our suggestions on board and has ensured that amendments have been agreed to in the other place to address some of those concerns.”
Mark Latham IND
“On this day of song in the Legislative Council mosh pit, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2025 is part of the "long and winding road" to housing reform—and what a long road it is.”
Penny Sharpe ALP
“Scott Farlow, on behalf of the Opposition; Ms Sue Higginson for The Greens; and the Hon. Mark Latham. It is clear that we have a housing crisis, and we need to do something to address it. I thank Opposition and crossbench members for their constructive discussions and consultation with the Government on the bill.”
News articles and press releases
Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2025
Mr PAUL SCULLY, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces — 2025-02-19
The bill responds to decisions from three separate challenges in the New South Wales courts to restore certainty in planning assessment decisions. Unfortunately, in two of those cases, the decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Land and Environment Court have caused considerable uncertainty. In the third case, the decision established a positive planning outcome, but the pathway used to reach that conclusion is not without doubt. That pathway is clarified in the bill. The bill proposes to respond to those recent court findings by amending sections 4.55 and 4.56 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act—the EP&A Act—to clarify the powers of a consent authority to modify a development consent. It amends schedule 1 to the EP&A Act to provide certainty around how submissions are counted. It amends section 4.