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Draft Development Control Plan no. 55 – Macquarie Park Corridor
Thank you for the opportunity to make comments on the draft Development Control Plan for the Macquarie Park Corridor. The Property Council of Australia congratulates the City of Ryde on their consultative approach to the formulation of planning controls for the Macquarie Park Corridor and trusts this will continue as the planning regime is finalised.
The Property Council makes the following comments on the draft Development Control Plan (DCP) for the Macquarie Park Corridor.
General
Prescriptive nature of controls
The draft DCP establishes objectives for all new development in the Macquarie Park Corridor, and development controls for how those objectives are to be delivered. The draft DCP also includes the statement “all developments must satisfy the development controls outlined in this [DCP]”. This has the effect of mandating compliance with the development controls in the DCP, regardless of whether a better planning outcome may be achieved through a minor variation. It also presents difficulties when trying to reconcile conflicting development controls within the DCP.
Adopting a more performance based approach for the achievement of the DCP objectives would ensure developments that were consistent with the desired future character of an area, despite not meeting of the development controls contained within the DCP, should be favourably considered by the Council.
