A Development Control Plan (DCP) supports the Local Environmental Plan by providing detailed planning and design guidelines for new development.  This needs to be considered in preparing a development application, and helps create sustainable and high quality development.

As a new City, Cumberland requires planning controls that reflect the needs of our current and future community. The introduction of new planning controls – through a Cumberland Local Environmental Plan and Cumberland Development Control Plan – will provide a simpler and more consistent planning framework for Cumberland.

Cumberland City Council is currently operating under three separate Development Control Plans, which represent the detailed planning controls from the former Council areas within Cumberland prior to amalgamation.  These include:

  i.  Auburn Development Control Plan 2010, which applies to land in the former Auburn City Council area (eastern part of Cumberland)

  ii.  Parramatta Development Control Plan 2011, which applies to land in the former Parramatta City Council area (central part of Cumberland) 

  iii.  Holroyd Development Control Plan 2013, which applies to land in the former Holroyd City Council area (western part of Cumberland).

The current approach does not provide an integrated planning framework for the Cumberland area, with inconsistent planning controls in place, and is not aligned to current strategic plans and policies from Council and the NSW Government.

The preparation of a new Cumberland Development Control Plan will complement the work being undertaken on the new Cumberland Local Environmental Plan, by providing more detailed planning controls for development in the area. 

The Cumberland Development Control Plan will also align with the strategic directions outlined in Council’s Community Strategic Plan and Cumberland 2030: Our Local Strategic Planning Statement.

The focus of the new Cumberland Development Control Plan is harmonising the three existing Development Control Plans in operation across Cumberland into a single set of detailed planning controls under a comprehensive document.  These include information on various types of development (eg. residential), activities related to development (eg. parking) and site specific controls (eg. former Lidcombe Hospital site).

The following principles have informed the preparation of the new Cumberland Development Control Plan:

·  As far as practicable, apply the same Development Control Plan controls across Cumberland City (focus on creating a consistent set of development controls for Cumberland).

·  Identify those controls which currently apply in one or more of the existing Development Control Plans which work well and adopt these across the Cumberland area.

·  Where an emerging planning issue is identified or in the case where a control is does not currently working, identify best practice development controls and adopt these across the Cumberland area.

·  Where justification for amending or including a Development Control Plan control is not currently available, identify the further analysis to be undertaken.

The draft Cumberland Development Control Plan is a new document that includes information on the following areas:

·  Controls and guidelines for residential, business and industrial development

·  Controls and guidelines for specific land uses, including places of public worship, sex services premises, childcare centres, community facilities and education facilities

·  Controls and guidelines for related activities, including heritage, telecommunications, tree management, traffic and transport, stormwater, waste management, sustainability, subdivision, and notification for applications

Where no changes are proposed, such as site specific development controls, the existing planning controls will carry over into the new Development Control Plan for Cumberland City.

Following public consultation, Council will review the submissions received on the draft planning controls.  Changes may be made to the new planning controls following community feedback. The recommended new planning controls for Cumberland City will be presented for Council endorsement in mid 2020.  Once endorsed, the planning controls will be finalised by Council and the NSW Government in the second half of 2020. 

You may lodge a development application (DA) at any time in accordance with the current Auburn, Parramatta or Holroyd Development Control Plan requirements. However, the draft Cumberland Development Control Plan will be considered as part of the assessment process. This is in addition to the usual development assessment considerations guided by the existing Development Control Plans. The extent to which the draft Cumberland Development Control Plan affects the proposed development is determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the specific elements of the proposed development.