1 Sep 2026the statewide Community Participation Plan took effect and the council’s own plan stopped applying
14 days to nonedual occupancies up to two storeys: exhibited under the council’s rules, not exhibited now
Up to 5dwellings in a townhouse development, or new lots in a subdivision, with no exhibition
7 to 0committee vote to recommend Council write to the State Minister, 3 November 2026
If someone next door lodged a development application for a dual occupancy or a small townhouse development, Central Coast Council used to put it on exhibition for 14 days, and an objection lodged in that window had to be weighed. For most housing up to two storeys, as across NSW, that has gone. The change came in with the statewide Community Participation Plan, made by the NSW Planning Secretary under the planning reforms passed in 2025, which took effect on 1 September 2026 and replaced more than 100 separate plans, including Central Coast Council’s. The council’s planners set out what it means in a report to the Environment and Planning Committee on 3 November. In their words, the plan
eliminates any Council public exhibition requirements for local development applications for most residential land uses
Central Coast Council, report on item 4.1, State Community Participation Plan, Environment and Planning Committee business paper, 3 November 2026, page 642
What no longer goes on exhibition
Table 6 of the statewide plan lists the development types that are excluded from public exhibition,
provided the application does not need a variation to the height of building or floor space ratio
controls under clause 4.6 of the council’s Local Environmental Plan. For residents the list
includes dwelling houses and dual occupancies of up to two storeys, secondary dwellings (granny flats),
attached dwellings and multi dwelling housing of up to five dwellings, alterations and additions to a
home that leave it no more than two storeys, pools, sheds, pergolas and carports, demolition, bed and
breakfasts, subdivision into no more than five new lots, tree removal on private land, and most
modifications to an existing consent. The council’s report reads the table as a list of proposals
for which Council cannot undertake public exhibition and has no discretion to do so.
The council’s officers compared the new plan with the notification rules in its own Development Control Plan, chapter 1.2, which they had revised and brought into force on 18 August, two weeks before the statewide plan overrode it. The comparison, condensed:
| Type of development | Council’s rules (DCP chapter 1.2) | Statewide plan |
|---|---|---|
| Dwelling houses, granny flats, additions where the council thought neighbours could be unduly affected | 14 days | None, unless over two storeys or a height or floor space variation |
| Dual occupancy | 14 days | None up to two storeys |
| Multi dwelling housing (townhouses) | 14 days | None up to five dwellings |
| Subdivision into 1 to 9 lots | 14 days | None up to five lots |
| Development involving a heritage item or in a heritage conservation area | 14 days | No separate rule; the council lists it as a reduction |
| Residential flat buildings, shop-top housing | 14 days | 14 days |
| New commercial building work | 14 days next to residential land | 14 days anywhere |
| Uses not listed in either table | At the council’s discretion | 14 days |
From Attachment 4 to item 4.1, the council’s comparison of DCP chapter 1.2 with Table 6 of the statewide plan, Environment and Planning Committee business paper, 3 November 2026, pages 656 to 660, condensed. The report says the comparison was put together before staff had seen many applications under the new plan, and that they are still listing points that need clarifying.
Two lines in that table cut the other way. Some commercial work and any use that neither list names now has to be exhibited where the council previously had a choice. And residential flat buildings and shop-top housing stay on exhibition for 14 days. The draft plan had left flat buildings off; the council’s June submission objected, and the department’s own summary of the 629 formal submissions it received lists opposition to that omission first among its themes. The final plan put them back.
What it means if you object
Exhibition is not only about being told. It is what makes an objection count. The statewide plan says
so directly:
Where a development is not required to be exhibited, a consent authority is not required to consider submissions as part of its assessment.
A
You can still write in at any stage, but
feedback can still be provided – however it is not considered a formal submission.
Exhibit A · from the source
The department’s case is proportionality. Its explanation is that the change is about
removing consultation that is duplicative or unnecessary
,
and that an application which is not exhibited is still assessed on its merits. The plan says
The consent authority must consider all relevant planning matters as part of the overall assessment process including issues such as privacy, overshadowing and heritage significance.
Consultation is meant to move earlier, to the strategic plans that set what can be built where:
exhibition of a local strategic planning statement rises from 28 days to 60.
The council’s June submission doubted that trade. From its own experience, it said,
the public do not show significant interest until such time there is a tangible proposal to look at, i.e.- at DA stage.
The department’s summary of the feedback, attached to the report, records the same thing among its
themes:
Feedback from the community that engagement is higher at the development assessment stage when they are directly affected.
Council had also asked, by resolution C-26/1025 on 26 May, for an amended plan to be exhibited again
before it was adopted. The report says no further information has been given on how the
council’s submission was considered.
What the committee decided
The officers asked the committee only to note the report. Cr Margot Castles moved, and Cr Sharon Walsh seconded, a recommendation that adds a second part. As carried, resolution EPC-26/263 recommends that Council receives and notes the report and
Notes with concern the removal and reduction of public exhibition requirements and notifications for local development applications for most residential land uses and writes to the relevant State Minister outlining these concerns.
Environment and Planning Committee minutes, 3 November 2026, item 4.1, resolution EPC-26/263
All seven committee members voted for it: Cr Doug Eaton OAM, Cr Walsh, Cr Castles, Cr Jane Smith, Cr John Mouland, Deputy Mayor Rachel Stanton and Mayor John McNamara. It is a recommendation, so full Council has to adopt it before a letter is sent. The next Ordinary Council meeting is at 6.30pm on Tuesday 17 November at the Central Coast Chambers. We will read its agenda and minutes and report whether Council adopts the recommendation.
What you can still do
- Applications lodged but not decided before 1 September stay under the old rules, the department says, so some older applications nearby may still be exhibited.
- A house or dual occupancy over two storeys, or anything needing a height or floor space variation, is still exhibited for at least 14 days, as are flat buildings and shop-top housing.
- To see what has been lodged near you without waiting for a letter, the plan points to each council’s online DA tracker, listed on the NSW Planning Portal.
- You can still send the council feedback on an application that is not exhibited. It does not count as a formal submission and the council does not have to consider it.
- 8 April to 3 June 2026 Draft statewide plan on exhibition: 629 formal submissions and 391 guided survey responses.
- 26 May 2026 Council endorses its submission and asks for the amended plan to be exhibited again (C-26/1025).
- 18 August 2026 The council’s revised notification chapter, DCP 1.2, takes effect.
- 27 August 2026 The final statewide plan is published.
- 1 September 2026 The statewide plan takes effect; the council’s plan no longer applies.
- 3 November 2026 Environment and Planning Committee recommends a letter to the State Minister, 7 to 0.
- 17 November 2026, 6.30pm Next Ordinary Council meeting, Central Coast Chambers.
Sources: the report for item 4.1 and its attachments; the committee minutes; the statewide plan and the department’s plan page; the council’s meeting calendar.
Our view
There is a fair case for the state’s change. A single house of up to two storeys that meets every height and floor space control is mostly settled by those controls, and the assessing officer still has to weigh privacy and overshadowing.
The weak point is the council’s discretion. Under its old rules a house was exhibited only where the council thought it might unduly affect the neighbours. That was already the proportionate version, and the new table removes it, along with the 14 days for dual occupancies up to two storeys and subdivisions of up to five lots. The department’s own summary records that people engage when they are directly affected, which is the one moment this plan now closes for most housing. Council’s letter, if it adopts the recommendation on 17 November, would be more useful with one specific ask: let a council exhibit a Table 6 application when its officer judges the neighbours are likely to be affected. Meanwhile the plan itself lists a letter to residents as an engagement method a council can choose, and bars an engagement strategy only from setting exhibition timeframes. Whether a courtesy letter, with no formal submission attached, still fits inside the plan is a question the council has not yet answered in public, and it should.