Assurance of local strategic planning

Working with councils to deliver quality outcomes for communities

The making of Local Strategic Planning Statements (LSPS) by councils in Greater Sydney marks a milestone in the delivery of planning reforms that place greater emphasis on upfront strategic planning.

A Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS) sets out the 20-year vision for a local government area, demonstrates how change will be managed and identifies local priorities for updating council Local Environmental Plans (LEP).

Under Section 3 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, councils must receive a Letter of Support from the Commission, confirming that their LSPS is consistent with the Greater Sydney Region Plan and relevant District Plan, prior to making their LSPS.

The Commission has been working intensively with councils for over 12 months to support them in reviewing their LEP and developing their LSPS. The Commission has also brought together council and key State Government agencies, whose collaboration in this process has been important.

The Commission has now completed its assurance of 33 council LSPSs and the majority of these have been made by councils. The LSPS and Commission's Letters of Support are available via the Commission's local planning assurance tracker. LSPSs are also published on the DPIE Planning Portal.

The table below outlines the key steps undertaken in the Commission's assurance process and the next milestones for councils, being the finalisation of their LEP updates.

You are able to see the status of the LSPSs of all 33 Greater Sydney Councils and access the available documents via the local planning assurance tracker.

More information is available in the:

Information note on the role of a LSPS (PDF 244KB)

Frequently Asked Questions on the Letter of Support (PDF 170KB)

Table - Key milestones in the assurance of local planning