New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

ORANA REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLAN NO 1--SIDING SPRING - REG 8

8 Consultation and concurrence in certain cases

(1) Where, under this plan or under any other environmental planning instrument applying to land to which this plan applies, an application is required to be made for consent to development on land within a distance from the Observatory specified in Column 1 of the Table to this clause (in this clause called "the relevant distance") the council:

(a) shall not consent to the application without taking into account any comments made by the Observatory Director within the prescribed time, if it considers that the rate at which light would be emitted by the development (or by any building or work used in connection with it) would be greater than the rate specified in Column 2 of the Table opposite the relevant distance, and

(b) shall not consent to the application without the concurrence of the Director of Planning, if it considers that the rate at which light would be so emitted would exceed the rate specified in Column 3 of the Table opposite the relevant distance.

Table

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
Distance (in kilometres) from Observatory	Emission rate (in lumens)-consultation	Emission rate (in lumens)-concurrence
3	0	1,000
8	1,000	2,000
12	2,000	4,000
18	4,000	12,000
30	12,000	1,000,000
100	1,000,000	5,000,000

(2) For the purposes of subclause (1) (a):

(a) the Observatory Director shall be invited in writing by the council to make comments, within 21 days, on the application concerned, and

(b) that period of 21 days is the prescribed time to which reference is made in that subclause.

(3) In deciding whether to grant concurrence under subclause (1) (b) the Director shall consider:

(a) any comment proffered by the Observatory Director,

(b) the effect the development would have, if carried out, on the level of artificial sky glow at the Observatory,

(c) the level of artificial sky glow at the Observatory on or about the date the application is made and the relationship of that level to the critical level, and

(d) whether the public interest (if any) in permitting the development to be carried out outweighs the public interest in the preservation of an environment at the Observatory suitable for astronomical observations.

(4) Nothing in subclause (1) requires the council:

(a) to consult with the Observatory Director, or

(b) to obtain the concurrence of the Director, before granting consent to an application to erect a dwelling or a farm building so long as the land to which the application relates is 3 kilometres or more from the Observatory and,

(c) where the land to which the application relates is 12 kilometres or more from the Observatory, the council is satisfied that the building will not have external lights emitting more than 4000 lumens,

(d) where the land to which the application relates is 8 kilometres or more, but less than 12 kilometres, from the Observatory, the council is satisfied that the building will have only one external light and that light will not emit more than 1000 lumens, or

(e) where the land to which the application relates is 3 kilometres or more, but less than 8 kilometres, from the Observatory, the council is satisfied that the building will:

(i) have no external lighting, and

(ii) any other light will be adequately internalised.

(5) In subclause (4) "internalised" means confined within or under a building by structural elements, approved by the Observatory Director, which shield the sky from light.