The Statewide Community Participation Plan (CPP) commenced on 1 September 2026, introducing a single set of community participation requirements for planning authorities across NSW and replacing more than 100 individual community participation plans previously operating across NSW.
A copy of the Statewide CPP can be found here: Statewide Community Participation Plan
Minimum exhibition periods for development applications
For development applications, the key minimum public exhibition periods are now:
- State significant projects – a minimum of 28 days, although a 14-day minimum applies to specified categories of State significant development;
- Regionally significant development – a minimum of 14 days;
- Local development – a minimum of 14 days;
- Council-related development applications – a minimum of 28 days; and
- Development applications requiring additional consideration, including designated development, nominated integrated development and threatened species development – a minimum of 28 days.
These periods are minimum requirements. Development applications that are likely to generate significant public interest because of their location, nature or scale may be exhibited for a longer period at the discretion of the consent authority.
What about amendments to applications?
The Statewide CPP does not prescribe a minimum period for the re-exhibition of an amended application. Instead, where an application or other matter is amended, the period of any re-exhibition is “the period (if any) determined by the person or body responsible for publicly exhibiting the application or matter”.
This may be particularly relevant in Land and Environment Court proceedings, where amended plans are commonly prepared during Class 1 proceedings. In those circumstances, whether the amendments should be re-exhibited, and the period of any re-exhibition, will remain a matter for the person or body responsible for exhibition.
Development excluded from public exhibition
Certain categories of development are now excluded from public exhibition altogether where the development does not require a variation to a height of buildings or floor space ratio development standard.
The excluded development types are listed in Table 6 of the CPP and include:
- ancillary development to existing residential accommodation, such as pools, sheds, pergolas and carports;
- certain changes of use;
- dual occupancies of up to two storeys;
- attached dwellings comprising up to five dwellings;
- dwelling houses of up to two storeys;
- multi-dwelling housing comprising up to five dwellings;
- secondary dwellings;
- subdivisions resulting in no more than five new lots;
- tree removal on private land.
The exclusion also applies to applications to modify development consents under sections 4.55(1); 4.55(1A); section 4.56(1); and 4.55(2) where the development the subject of the consent is itself a development excluded from exhibition requirements.
Transitional arrangements
Savings and transitional provisions apply. Development applications and modification applications lodged, but not determined, before 1 September 2026 remain subject to the community participation requirements that applied before commencement of the Statewide CPP.
What does this mean in practice?
The introduction of the Statewide CPP is a significant procedural change for the NSW planning system.
For applicants and consent authorities, it should make public exhibition requirements easier to navigate and provide greater consistency across NSW. The exclusion of a range of comparatively low-impact development from mandatory public exhibition should also streamline the assessment of some applications.
For neighbours and community members, however, the changes mean that some development that may previously have been publicly exhibited under a council’s local CPP will no longer be required to undergo formal public exhibition.
If you would like advice on how these changes may affect a current or proposed development application, modification application or Land and Environment Court matter, please contact our Planning and Environment team.