New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

BAULKHAM HILLS LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN 2005 - REG 2

2 Aims of plan and objectives for development

Note: This plan restates the provisions of Baulkham Hills Local Environmental Plan 1991 and incorporates the amendments that have been made to it so as to provide a coherent statement of planning intent for Baulkham Hills, bring those provisions up to date and ensure consistency with all relevant and current legislation.

(1) The aims of this plan are:

(a) with respect to the natural and built environment of the Baulkham Hills local government area, to conserve and enhance the natural and built environment of Baulkham Hills for present and future generations, and

(b) with respect to the community of that area, to encourage a strong sense of community identity and economic well being throughout Baulkham Hills through the development of local communities that are safe, liveable and offer a diversity of land use and economic opportunity, and

(c) with respect to use of resources within that area, to promote the efficient utilisation of land, services and support facilities in existing urban areas and to provide for the orderly growth of new urban areas that promote a high level of residential amenity, and

(d) with respect to flexibility, to create a broad framework of controls and allow the opportunity for more detailed provisions relating to matters of local significance to be contained in development control plans.

(2) The objectives for development of this plan are:

(a) with respect to the natural and built environment of the Baulkham Hills local government area, that development should:

(i) recognise and implement the principles of ecologically sustainable development, and

(ii) protect and enhance the area’s biodiversity, and

(iii) ensure that environmentally sensitive areas are suitably protected, and

(iv) address all natural hazard concerns, including flooding, landslip, subsidence, salinity, tidal inundation, land contamination and acid sulfate soils, and

(v) respect, improve and integrate with the local character of the locality in which it is carried out, and

(vi) rehabilitate the natural environment where damaged by previous activities, and

(vii) have regard to the land uses that form the rural and urban environment of the Shire, and

(viii) minimise the use of non-renewable resources and maximise the use of renewable resources, and

(ix) incorporate energy saving mechanisms and water saving mechanisms, and

(x) minimise waste and pollution, and

(xi) promote buildings designed for adaptive re-use, and

(xii) conserve the heritage significance of existing significant fabric, relics, settings and views associated with the heritage significance of heritage items and heritage conservation areas, and

(xiii) conserve and enhance the natural, cultural and environmental heritage of the area, and

(xiv) positively contribute to the retention and maintenance of items of indigenous and non-indigenous heritage, and

(b) with respect to the community of that area, that development should:

(i) integrate land use and improve access to open space, employment opportunities, public transport, community facilities and commercial services, and

(ii) reinforce the retail and commercial centres hierarchy within the area, and

(iii) provide opportunities for tourism and recreational development in appropriate locations, and

(iv) provide for home-based activities that are compatible with the character and amenity of the neighbourhood or place in which they are to be located, and

(v) maximise positive social impacts and minimise potentially detrimental social impacts, and

(vi) provide informal surveillance of public spaces, and

(vii) optimise the shared use of streets and parking facilities, while improving or creating an efficient pedestrian environment, and

(c) with respect to use of resources within that area, development should:

(i) protect localities from inappropriate development and ensure that local amenity is maintained and enhanced, and

(ii) provide choice in housing for residents, and

(iii) ensure that urban housing type varies and is designed and constructed in a manner that can accommodate (or be adapted to the needs of) a variety of household types, and

(iv) contribute to the synergy between land use activities.