Liverpool City Council (“Council”) is reviewing the Liverpool Local Environmental Plan 2008, with the intent of establishing a brand new Local Environmental Plan for the Liverpool Local Government Area. The commencement of this review process was endorsed by Council on 2 February 2022.
The results of the review and recommended changes were drafted into a Planning Proposal, which is the formal process for creating a new Local Environmental Plan (LEP). The Planning Proposal included changes to the planning rules for residential, commercial, industrial, recreational, and environmental land. It was submitted to the Department of Planning, Housing, and Infrastructure (DPHI) for assessment.
On 22 April 2025, Council received feedback from the DPHI, including conditions that needed to be met in order for the Planning Proposal to progress. This included removing some changes that would have reduced the development potential of certain residential and commercial sites. These changes were based on impacts on local character as well as the availability of services and public transport.
Following the rejection of these changes by the DPHI, Council decided at its meeting of 27 August 2025 to split the Planning Proposal into two stages. A copy of the Meeting Minutes can be viewed here.
The Planning Proposal will now generally progress the changes unaffected by the feedback received from the DPHI. The changes to residential and commercial land will be deferred to a later stage, which will be worked on in close consultation with the DPHI.
Public exhibition of the Planning Proposal for the new LEP is now underway until 12 June 2026. Further details on how to make a submission are provided below.
To receive notifications on the progress of the new LEP including exhibition updates, please CLICK HERE
A Local Environmental Plan (LEP) is a legislative document used to guide planning decisions. LEPs contain land use zones and other development controls, such as height of buildings, lot sizes and floor space ratio to shape the character of a suburb.
The Liverpool Local Environmental Plan 2008 applies to various suburbs across Liverpool’s Local Government Area (LGA), marked as blue in the image below. Other suburbs are covered by State Government Planning Legislation and are not impacted by this review.
Suburbs under the LLEP 2008 include:
Ashcroft | Edmondson Park^ | Kemps Creek*^ | Prestons |
Busby | Elizabeth Hills | Len Waters Estate | Rossmore*^ |
Bringelly*^ | Greendale*^ | Leppington*^ | Sadleir |
Cartwright | Green Valley | Luddenham*^ | Silverdale* |
Carnes Hill | Hammondville | Lurnea | Wallacia |
Casula | Heckenberg | Middleton Grange^ | Warwick Farm |
Cecil Hills^ | Hinchinbrook | Miller | Wattle Grove |
Cecil Park*^ | Holsworthy | Moorebank | West Hoxton^ |
Chipping Norton | Horningsea Park^ | Mount Pritchard | Voyager Point |
Denham Court *^ | Hoxton Park | Pleasure Point |
*No changes are proposed to rural land under the LLEP 2008, as the outcomes of the Rural Lands Strategy will be actioned separately.
^Part of the suburb is under the LLEP 2008, and certain parts are covered by separate planning legislation not part of this review.
The LEP review has been endorsed by Council which resolved to “Start the process to create a new Liverpool LEP as a matter of urgency”.
Extensive community engagement occurred during 2019 and 2020, as part of developing the Local Strategic Planning Statement “Connected Liverpool 2040” (LSPS). Council heard the strategic planning priorities of the community which have been included in the final LSPS document. This LEP Review is addressing the priorities in the LSPS, notably protecting the suburban character of residential areas.
In 2021, Council completed ‘Phase #1 Review’ of the LLEP 2008, which consisted of mostly housekeeping amendments, and importantly, reduced the extent of R4 High Density Residential zoned land within Moorebank, following targeted community engagement.
During the Phase #1 Review, Liverpool City Council undertook several studies relating to residential, industrial and commercial land in the LGA. These investigations were used to inform various Land Use Strategies, which were adopted by Council on 26 August 2020.
- Centres and Corridors Strategy
- Industrial and Employment Lands Strategy
- Liverpool Local Housing Strategy
The above strategies contain a number of short, medium and long term actions, to inform a new Local Environmental Plan. These recommendations were further considered as part of the ‘Phase #2 Review’.
The Planning Proposal contains extensive changes to industrial, environmental, and recreational land along with new provisions for Build-to-Rent housing and revised bonus incentives within the Liverpool City Centre. The project also includes other miscellaneous and housekeeping matters. A summary of some of the key changes are provided below:
- Revised planning controls for certain commercial land within the Liverpool City Centre, to incentivise development
- New land uses permitted in the residential, commercial, industrial and recreational land use zones
- New controls to rejuvenate industrial land and promote new businesses to establish within Liverpool’s industrial precincts, and protect industrial land;
- New controls for urban heat, recycled water, water sensitive urban design and terrestrial biodiversity, to ensure planning controls are environmentally friendly;
- Rezoning of certain publicly owned land from RE1 Public Recreation to C2 Environmental Conservation.
- Various updates to the existing clauses and maps within the LLEP 2008, to remove redundant clauses, improve legibility and rectify errors.
Visit Councils Online Map tool, to determine the land use zone in the LLEP 2008 (and other State Legislation not covered by this review).
It is expected that the new LEP will come into effect in 2026 however, the timing is subject to the outcomes of the public exhibition and finalisation process by both Council and DPHI.
A summary of the indicative timeline is provided below.
Timeframe | Action |
2022 (Complete) |
|
2023 (Complete) |
|
2024 (Complete) |
|
2025 (Complete) |
|
2026 |
|
As soon as a Planning Proposal is publicly exhibited it becomes a draft LEP. This means that it will be considered in the assessment of any Development Application lodged on the land affected by the new LEP.
The Planning Proposal Report, supporting attachments and summary fact sheets can be viewed by clicking here.
Written submissions on the New LEP Planning Proposal can be made via:
- Online Link: Liverpool Listens;
- Email: lepreview@liverpool.nsw.gov.au or
- Planning Portal by searching ‘2024-1920’ or clicking here
Submissions are to be received by 5pm on 12 June 2026, quoting RZ-8/2022.
If you have any questions about the exhibition, please contact Council’s Strategic Planning Team on 1300 36 2170, or email us at lepreview@liverpool.nsw.gov.au.
