By Sue Puckeridge and James King
Overshadowing considerations for development near Sydney parklands
The Greater Sydney Parklands Trust Act 2022 (Parklands Act) commenced on 1 July 2022. On the same date, the Minister for Cities gazetted the Greater Sydney Parklands Shadow Modelling Study 2022 (Shadow Modelling Study). The Parklands Act, in combination with the Shadow Modelling Study creates a new ‘must have regard to’ provision for relevant consent authorities when determining development applications. Where proposed development will, or may, cast a shadow over certain parklands, consent authorities must now consider the overshadowing impacts of that development on the parkland using the Shadow Modelling Study.
The Parklands Estate
The Parklands Act applies to the parklands directly owned or managed by the Greater Sydney Parklands Trust and all of the parklands owned or managed by the associated Trusts’ estates (Parklands Estate), including Callan Park, Centennial, Moore and Queens parks, Parramatta Park, and Western Sydney Parklands and Fernhill Estate.
The total land covered by the Parklands Estate is more than 6,000ha.
Requirement to consider overshadowing
A general obligation to consider overshadowing impacts already exists under s4.15(1)(b) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act). However, section 26 of the Parklands Act now introduces a specific requirement for any consent authority determining an application for a development consent under the EPA Act that will, or may, overshadow the Parklands Estate to consider the impacts set out in the Shadow Modelling Study.
The Centennial Parklands and Parramatta Park have been identified by the Shadow Modelling Study as the most susceptible to overshadowing. These parks have been mapped (Mapped Parklands) and detailed site-specific Solar Protection Controls have been prepared to determine the acceptability of overshadowing impacts for development in their vicinity.