The NSW Government is paving the way for more jobs closer to home through planning reforms to make it easier for businesses to set up, innovate and grow.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said the system for identifying land for commercial and industrial activities had been simplified to provide more certainty, flexibility and support for businesses and their employees.
“The way businesses operate is evolving and that’s been accelerated by the pandemic. We’ve seen how agile and innovative they can be as they’ve found new ways to reach customers and support their communities,” Mr Stokes said.
“Our planning system needs to do the same. We’ve overhauled the employment zones to make it easier for businesses to set up and expand their operations and to compete in the global economy.”
The reforms cut the number of employment zones from 12 to five core zones, with changes to better reflect the way businesses use land, providing better access for their customers and employees.
“Fewer zones that permit more uses mean more investment, less red tape, and better job opportunities closer to home for local communities,” Mr Stokes said.
“This gives certainty to business, councils and the community about what can be built on land across NSW.”
The new zones are:
- E1 Local Centre: provides for a range of retail business, entertainment, community uses that service a local area;
- E2 Commercial Centre: large-scale commercial, retail, business and service development in strategic centres;
- E3 Productivity Support: mix of industrial, commercial, creative, warehousing and emerging new industries that need larger floor space;
- E4 General Industrial: light and general industrial, warehousing uses providing important services like waste management and concrete batching; and
- E5 Heavy Industrial: hazardous and industries with odour and noise impacts that need to be separated from other urban areas.
The new zones will come into place on December 1 and the Government will work with councils to implement the framework within their local planning rules over the next 12 months. For more information, visit
