Employment Zones Reform – Department of Planning

The New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment (‘the Department’) is exhibiting the translation of existing Business and Industrial zones into new Employment zones. The exhibition commenced on Tuesday 31 May 2022 and will run for six weeks until 5pm on Tuesday 12 July 2022.

This implementation stage of reform replaces Business and Industrial zones with Employment zones within individual local environmental plans across NSW. The implementation follows the introduction of Employment zones within the Standard Instrument (Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006 in December 2021.

The Department has worked closely with each Council to ensure local environmental plans are amended, consistent with the intent of the reform, while also ensuring the land-use planning outcomes are locally appropriate. After the exhibition, the Department will be working with Councils to finalise implementation ahead of the new zones coming into force on 1 December 2022.

To view the exhibition platform, please visit the Department’s Planning Portal. The Employment Zones Reform webpage also provides further information on the reform process.

Please visit the Frequently Asked Questions section on the Employment Zones Reform webpage.