More houses may soon be permitted on rural blocks in the Dubbo local government area.
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Dubbo Regional councillor Stephen Lawrence has asked council to look into the possibility of amending the Dubbo Local Environment Plan to allow more dwellings to be constructed on rural-zoned lots.
Cr Lawrence said the land issue had been brought to his attention by a resident whose land was on a rural RU4 block that didn’t have a dwelling entitlement.
Under the LEP, the RU4 land can be used for commercial primary industry production, including emerging primary industries and agricultural uses that operate on smaller rural holdings.
However, issues have been raised about rural blocks under 20 hectares.
“I’m aware also of other people adversely affected by it in the sense that their properties are too small for profitable use in a rural way but also don’t have a dwelling entitlement so they can’t be used as a lifestyle block,” Cr Lawrence said.
The councillor said he knew changing the LEP could be complicated, but as council was already reviewing the Dubbo and Wellington LEPs, now was the best time to do it.
“It’s certainly my view that from the perspective of wanting growth and from the perspective of people being entitled to do what they want with their land which is also one proposition which is certainly not unqualified but is important that it’s worth us getting this policy work done,” Cr Lawrence said.
Mayor Ben Shields said he also supported the idea.
“One of the ways you grow a place like Dubbo is to make our LEP as versatile as possible, particularly within these rural areas. We do have an advantage over the city areas where we do have the possibility of people having larger lifestyle blocks,” he said.
The report council prepares on rural land uses will be used to develop the Rural Land Use Strategy for rural land in the former Wellington local government area. It will then be included in the 2040 Delivery Program ad Operational Plan.