Development Control Plan draft improvements

About the project

Council is updating their Development Control Plan (DCP) through a comprehensive review. This update simplifies the document to create a more user-friendly resource for the community and stakeholders.


What is a Development Control Plan?

A DCP provides detailed planning and design guidelines to support the planning controls in the Local Environmental Plan. Council uses these rules to assess development applications (DAs), ensuring that Tweed Shire grows sustainably and in a way that suits the local area. The DCP sets clear expectations for Council, developers and the community about what kind of development is suitable in each location, based on constraints such as surrounding land uses, environmental considerations, natural hazards and local character.


Benefits of the updates to the Development Control Plan

The updated DCP provides clearer and practical guidance to help Council, developers and the community plan and assess development.

Updates aim to:

  • Support sustainable development that responds to climate change.
  • Protect and manage environmentally sensitive areas.
  • Encourage a wider variety of housing types and densities to meet the needs of the local community.
  • Promote the social and economic well-being of the community in a fair and inclusive way.
  • Provide a more user-friendly document.
  • Enable the DCP to be interpreted in conjunction with relevant mapping.


Key changes

The draft DCP 2025 includes some key changes. These include:

  • Grouping content by themes, starting with Shire-wide and ending with location-specific, to make the document easier to read and navigate.
  • The gradual replacement of "Locality Plans" with "Character Statements", to better reflect the unique identity of areas.
  • Improved clarity and consistency in the way we protect trees and vegetation.
  • The removal of Section A6 Child Care Centres, as development of child care centres is now assessed under the State Environmental Planning Policy and the NSW Child Care Planning Guideline.
  • Residential development controls have been updated to:
    • Strengthen the role of site analysis
    • Align landscaping rules with Council's Cool Towns program
    • Expand controls for small-lot housing
    • Introduce new rules for detached studios and rural outbuildings
  • A new chapter on social impact assessment to support fair and inclusive development.
  • Subdivision controls reformatted to provide a clear pathway for constraints analysis and appropriate response through subdivision design.
  • Revised coastal hazard controls to reflect the latest data and legislation.
  • DCP controls to operate in conjunction with an online mapping portal with key relevant mapping information presented at a property scale - mapping portal to be released in the near future.
  • Launched an online mapping portal to give easier access to relevant planning maps.
  • Interim flood planning levels, minimum floor levels to be set above the 2022 flood record. The updated flood planning controls are also currently open for feedback, see the project page, Tweed's flood planning controls for more details.

* A new online mapping portal will be available at the end of 2025 providing updated constraints and legislative mapping layers.


Who we've engaged with to date

To help shape the updated DCP 2025, we worked closely with an external advisory group made up of local planning consultants, architects and developers. We also worked with staff from across Council including, building and environmental health, development assessment, development engineering, inclusive and creative communities, open space planning, roads and stormwater, strategic planning and urban design, sustainability and environment and communications and engagement. Collaboration with key stakeholders was integral in developing a high quality, contemporary DCP.


Community drop-in sessions

Stay tuned for a list of community drop-in sessions being held in November across the Tweed. This is your opportunity to talk to a planner and understand proposed changes to the DCP. Dates will be advertised in the Tweed Link and on this project page.


Have your say

You're invited to provide your feedback on the draft improvements to the Development Control Plan by 4 pm, Wednesday 3 December 2025. Some parts of the DCP are shaped by technical requirements like engineering standards and legislation, but your feedback helps make the plan clearer, easier to use, and better reflect the needs and character of our community.

Submit your feedback in one of the following ways:

  • Online: using the feedback form below
  • Email: tsc@tweed.nsw.gov.au Subject: Development Control Plan
  • Mail: Draft Development Control Plan, General Manager, Tweed Shire Council, PO Box 816 MURWILLUMBAH NSW 2484 Subject: Development Control Plan

About the project

Council is updating their Development Control Plan (DCP) through a comprehensive review. This update simplifies the document to create a more user-friendly resource for the community and stakeholders.


What is a Development Control Plan?

A DCP provides detailed planning and design guidelines to support the planning controls in the Local Environmental Plan. Council uses these rules to assess development applications (DAs), ensuring that Tweed Shire grows sustainably and in a way that suits the local area. The DCP sets clear expectations for Council, developers and the community about what kind of development is suitable in each location, based on constraints such as surrounding land uses, environmental considerations, natural hazards and local character.


Benefits of the updates to the Development Control Plan

The updated DCP provides clearer and practical guidance to help Council, developers and the community plan and assess development.

Updates aim to:

  • Support sustainable development that responds to climate change.
  • Protect and manage environmentally sensitive areas.
  • Encourage a wider variety of housing types and densities to meet the needs of the local community.
  • Promote the social and economic well-being of the community in a fair and inclusive way.
  • Provide a more user-friendly document.
  • Enable the DCP to be interpreted in conjunction with relevant mapping.


Key changes

The draft DCP 2025 includes some key changes. These include:

  • Grouping content by themes, starting with Shire-wide and ending with location-specific, to make the document easier to read and navigate.
  • The gradual replacement of "Locality Plans" with "Character Statements", to better reflect the unique identity of areas.
  • Improved clarity and consistency in the way we protect trees and vegetation.
  • The removal of Section A6 Child Care Centres, as development of child care centres is now assessed under the State Environmental Planning Policy and the NSW Child Care Planning Guideline.
  • Residential development controls have been updated to:
    • Strengthen the role of site analysis
    • Align landscaping rules with Council's Cool Towns program
    • Expand controls for small-lot housing
    • Introduce new rules for detached studios and rural outbuildings
  • A new chapter on social impact assessment to support fair and inclusive development.
  • Subdivision controls reformatted to provide a clear pathway for constraints analysis and appropriate response through subdivision design.
  • Revised coastal hazard controls to reflect the latest data and legislation.
  • DCP controls to operate in conjunction with an online mapping portal with key relevant mapping information presented at a property scale - mapping portal to be released in the near future.
  • Launched an online mapping portal to give easier access to relevant planning maps.
  • Interim flood planning levels, minimum floor levels to be set above the 2022 flood record. The updated flood planning controls are also currently open for feedback, see the project page, Tweed's flood planning controls for more details.

* A new online mapping portal will be available at the end of 2025 providing updated constraints and legislative mapping layers.


Who we've engaged with to date

To help shape the updated DCP 2025, we worked closely with an external advisory group made up of local planning consultants, architects and developers. We also worked with staff from across Council including, building and environmental health, development assessment, development engineering, inclusive and creative communities, open space planning, roads and stormwater, strategic planning and urban design, sustainability and environment and communications and engagement. Collaboration with key stakeholders was integral in developing a high quality, contemporary DCP.


Community drop-in sessions

Stay tuned for a list of community drop-in sessions being held in November across the Tweed. This is your opportunity to talk to a planner and understand proposed changes to the DCP. Dates will be advertised in the Tweed Link and on this project page.


Have your say

You're invited to provide your feedback on the draft improvements to the Development Control Plan by 4 pm, Wednesday 3 December 2025. Some parts of the DCP are shaped by technical requirements like engineering standards and legislation, but your feedback helps make the plan clearer, easier to use, and better reflect the needs and character of our community.

Submit your feedback in one of the following ways:

  • Online: using the feedback form below
  • Email: tsc@tweed.nsw.gov.au Subject: Development Control Plan
  • Mail: Draft Development Control Plan, General Manager, Tweed Shire Council, PO Box 816 MURWILLUMBAH NSW 2484 Subject: Development Control Plan
Page last updated: 22 Oct 2025, 06:01 PM