A master plan is a long-term plan that provides a road map to guide future growth and change in our centres over the coming decades.

Master plans have an important role in determining the look, feel and function of the urban environment. It guides and covers things like building heights, design, land use zones, new open space, public domain improvements and heritage protections. The Belfield Small Village Master Plan will guide new planning controls that apply to properties in the master planning area.

Council has been undertaking master planning for its strategic centres of Bankstown and Campsie for the last two years, and is currently preparing master plans for Belmore, Lakemba and Canterbury. The Belfield Small Village Master Plan will be developed alongside these other master plans.

The current planning framework for the Belfield Small Village is over ten years old. Although this plan identifies a number of public domain upgrades and public benefits such as new laneways, through-site links and public spaces, none of these have been delivered. Developing a master plan presents an opportunity for Council to re-evaluate the current planning framework and for us to involve the community in creating a new vision for Belfield.

Feedback from early engagement activities will be used to understand what people like about the centre as well as some of the challenges facing the community and local business. Online tools like the interactive map and community survey give us insight into the local community’s aspirations for Belfield, and we can ensure that the master plan reflects these.

Additional feedback will be sought from the community once the draft Master Plan has been prepared. Once it is ready, Council will exhibit the master plan, allowing the community to provide feedback and have its say on the master plan.

The aim of this master plan is to improve the quality of development in the Belfield Small Village, ensure local business has the conditions to thrive, and create a place that the community can be proud of.

The plan will improve the look and feel of the village by:

• Raise the design standards of new buildings;
• Improve the quality of the public domain;
• Improve the way waste is managed and collected;
• Enhance open spaces and increase tree canopy; and
• Celebrate local character.

The master plan will set the vision for the future of the Belfield village, and is the first step in a longer planning process. Council will then prepare a Planning Proposal to implement the Master Plan, this process will include opportunities for additional community consultation.

The timeline below provides more detail on the next steps following the master plan.

No. The early engagement phase was focused on gathering ideas from the community to help develop the draft master plans alongside a range of technical studies. The next round of engagement will be seeking feedback on the draft Master Plans. The community will be notified in advance of each decision-making stage to invite feedback. See the timeline to see where we are at in the process.