Update on Development Control Plan (DCP) amendments for Transport Oriented Development (TOD) Precincts
6 May 2026
What has happened?
Following the exhibition of the Development Control Plan (DCP) amendments for Transport Oriented Development (TOD) Precincts in November 2025, community feedback was reported to Council at its meeting on 24 February 2026.
During the meeting, 10 Councillors including the Mayor declared a conflict of interest in these precincts which meant there was not enough Councillors to vote on the item. In accordance with Council’s Code of Conduct, Council resolved to delegate the consideration and determination of the DCP amendments for TOD Precincts to the CEO.
On 10 March 2026, the CEO adopted the recommendations of the Council report to adopt the draft amendments to Chapter 7.6 Belmore and Lakemba, Chapter 7.7 Punchbowl and Wiley Park and Chapter 7.5 Canterbury Local Centre. The meeting agenda and minutes are now available online. Chapter 7.5 and 7.6 amendments came into effect on March 30.
Chapter 7.7 amendments came into effect on April 24 to align with the alternative plan for Punchbowl and Wiley Park implemented by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DHPI).
All these changes will allow landowners and developers to submit development applications (DAs) to redevelop their sites to realise Council’s vision of creating places that our community love.
How did we engage with the community?
The draft DCP amendments were put on exhibition for 30 days, with engagement conducted through notification letters, social media, flyers, posters and a Have Your Say page. Hard copies of the proposed DCP amendments were available at Council’s Customer Service Centres in Bankstown and Campsie.
During the exhibition period:
- Council sent out a total of 33,280 letters to property owners and occupants as well as 11 letters to State and infrastructure agencies
- Thirty-eight phone calls and five emails were received via Council’s dedicated master planning hotline, staffed by planning and customer service officers
- A Have Your Say email was sent to 1,281 recipients who follow projects in Belmore, Lakemba, Punchbowl, Wiley Park as well as projects relating to Planning Design and Renewal
- A paid social media advertising campaign for the exhibition reached 8,018 users, resulting in 720 clicks
- The dedicated Have Your Say page received 1,758 visitors
During the exhibition period, 70 unique written submissions were received, comprising 65 community submissions and five by state agencies. Of the community submissions:
- 34% provided support for the draft amendments to the DCP
- 9% opposed the draft DCP
- 50% of submissions provided general comments that did not relate to the draft DCP controls
- The remaining 7% are from state agencies.
The key matters raised in the community submissions were:
| Theme | Response |
| Growth | These comments
were typically out of scope of the draft DCP amendments since the DCP provide
design guidance based on the alternative plans for each precinct. The draft DCP
amendments do not make any changes to height or zoning. |
| Traffic and parking | Concerns were raised on increased traffic congestion and further pressures on already limited parking. Council has planned improvements to walking and cycling infrastructure with new through-site links and future public domain upgrades. Providing open
spaces and through-site links would not have been possible through the NSW
Government's standard controls for these precincts. The draft DCP amendments
also ensures a minimum rate of parking is provided within new developments. |
| Transport Oriented Development (TOD) Program and or Low to Mid Rise Housing (LMRH) Policy | Mixed views on NSW Government planning policies and their application were raised. Some submissions supported Council’s alternative plan instead of TOD. Other submissions requested to implement TOD and that the changes should not occur and instead implement TOD. Some appeared to have understood that Council was only applying the TOD controls, and that more density was needed. |
| Public and active transport | Support was expressed for higher densities concentrated around the metro stations, the need for improved bus routes and advocacy for cycling infrastructure. Many of these comments were considered out of scope for the draft DCP amendments and form part of Council's alternative plan and ongoing advocacy. The draft DCP amendments seeks to improve walkability by providing high level controls on public domain design and introducing through-site connections to improve the walking network. |
Minor changes were made to figures and graphics to correct errors or to maintain consistency with other parts of the DCP.
How does this relate to the recent updates to the Local Environment Plan?
The DCP is the next layer under the Local Environment Plan (LEP).
The DCP outlines detailed design and planning rules that support the LEP. The DCP does not change the zoning, height, or floor space ratio of sites, this is done by changes to Council’s LEP.
Changes to Council’s LEP related to TOD Precincts, occurred on the following dates:
- 6 February 2026 - implementation of Council’s alternative plan for Belmore and Lakemba
- 24 April 2026 - implementation of Council’s alternative plan for Punchbowl and Wiley Park
The DCP is used by Council to assist with the preparation and review of development applications. It is regularly updated to reflect rezoning, government reforms, and new development trends.
The NSW Government’s Transport Oriented Development (TOD) Program was part of the state led planning reforms aimed at building new homes near key train stations, including Canterbury, Belmore, Lakemba, Punchbowl and Wiley Park.
These involved setting standard rules for zoning, building heights and density within 400 metres of the stations.
While the TOD Program's intent to increase housing supply was good, Council did not believe that a blanket rezoning approach was the best way of achieving this.
In November 2024, Council submitted an alternative plan for Belmore and Lakemba local centres to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI). In June 2025, Council also submitted an alternative approach for the Punchbowl and Wiley Park village centres.
During 2025, DPHI reviewed Council’s plans and prepared amendments to Council’s LEP. Following their review, DPHI has updated Council’s LEP for the Belmore and Lakemba Precinct and the Punchbowl and Wiley Park Precinct. In anticipation of these changes to the local centres, Council also developed, exhibited and published draft amendments to our DCP in late 2025 and early 2026.
