A Master Plan 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. They outline desired changes to building heights, design, land use zones, new open space, public domain improvements and heritage.

The Belfield Small Village Master Plan will guide new planning controls that apply to properties in the master planning study area.

Council has undertaken master planning for Bankstown and Canterbury which is now in effect. We have also prepared master plans for Belmore, Lakemba, Punchbowl, Wiley Park and Campsie.

The Belfield small village differs from these centres as it was not impacted by the NSW Government‘s Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Program or Low to Mid Rise Housing Policy (LMRH). These policies proposed to permit residential flat buildings, shop top housing, dual occupancies, terraces and manor homes in 400-800m radius in well-connected centres.

By contrast, Belfield is not connected to mass transit like the other centres mentioned. Additionally, the current planning framework for the Belfield small village is over 12 years old.

As such, Belfield presents an opportunity to re-evaluate the planning framework, understand community needs and involve the community in creating a new vision for Belfield.

Following early engagement activities in 2022, Council continued to work on developing the draft Master Plan for the Belfield small village centre.

In late-2023 and early-2024, the NSW government announced changes to planning frameworks and introduced the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) and the Low to Mid Rise Housing (LMRH) program. In the past two years, Council focussed on presenting alternative approaches for areas affected by TOD and LMRH such as Bankstown, Canterbury, Belmore, Lakemba, Punchbowl and Wiley Park.

Council will now continue to work closely with the community to develop the Belfield small village Master Plan.

Feedback from early engagement activities in 2022 has been used to understand what people like about the centre as well as the challenges experienced by the community and local business. These methods of engagement included online tools like an interactive map and community survey, which gave insight into the local community’s aspirations for Belfield.

In developing the draft Belfield Small Village Master Plan, we focussed on protecting and enhancing what the community values most and responding to the challenges facing the local community and businesses.

We will consider your feedback and incorporate any appropriate changes before the Master Plan is submitted for consideration at an ordinary Council meeting in early 2026.

After the plan is adopted by Council, we will prepare a Planning Proposal to implement the Master Plan that will allow more opportunities for the community to give their input.

The timeline below provides detail on the steps that will follow.

No. Further changes may be made to the draft plan in response to community feedback. The draft Master Plan will be submitted to Council for adoption, and Council will consider community feedback and submissions before a decision is made.