Progressing the DCP

Since conducting a series of community publicity, discussion and workshops Council have been developing a revised Development Control Plan document to address the issues, gaps and outdated regulation that were identified with the current aging (DCP 2013) document.

As a result of this significant work, a substantially reorganised draft DCP has now been developed to provide a streamlined document. This is to guide and assist all users; proponents, professionals, businesses, property owners and Council to follow a logical sequence of steps through all aspects of local development that must be considered for development approval:

Part A – An introductory explanation.

Part B – Addressing critical ‘shire-wide’ requirements, around natural hazard risk, environmental qualities, infrastructure and Aboriginal Cultural Heritage where applicable.

Part C – Place specific requirements, where these apply to development within individual heritage and character localities, places and settlements.

Part D – Development requirements in stand-alone sections that cover planning requirements for each development type; residential, rural, commercial and industrial, and

Part E – Supporting information to assist DCP document users with a glossary of planning terms, references sources and supplementary details on heritage items, new areas, parking, landscape and on-site wastewater treatment.

Through this draft DCP we seek to promote the preservation of the valued character of Kempsey’s natural landscape and built environments and support the breadth of development that will sustain our Community and Shire into the future.

Local participation

We appreciate the interest and comments from various stakeholders to date, and the substantial discussion and workshopping of this draft DCP undertaken across Council’s specialist teams including Development Assessment, Building Services, Engineering Design, Water and Sewer, Heritage and others that has helped to shape and review this draft document.

Opportunity to preview

From Councillor’s resolution at the November 2025 Council Meeting we are inviting local stakeholders to take a preliminary look at the draft DCP ahead of an intended wider public exhibition of the draft Kempsey Development Control Plan.

This initial opportunity is limited in time however to allow Council and Consultants to continue and maintain the progress of this lengthy process. Consequently the draft DCP document is available on the Your-Say-Macleay project webpage for your information and review from now until Friday 19 December 2025.

Further opportunity will be provided for all members of the Community to review and comment on the draft Development Control Plan (DCP) during a statutory Public Exhibition period which is anticipated to run from later December through to mid February 2026. If you have any questions, please contact engagement@kempsey.nsw.gov.au.