Councillors considered a report on the draft LEP at last week’s council meeting and resolved to seek further public comment because there have been several amendments to the original draft.

In response to the initial exhibition period, Council received 928 submissions which were taken into consideration prior to the revised draft being submitted to council.

Council also resolved last night to remove a number of items from the draft heritage schedule in response to submissions requesting removal for a variety of reasons including concerns regarding restrictions on redevelopment and resale potential.

"It is generally acknowledged that there are some concerns regarding heritage and it is intended that a heritage information session will be organised during the re-exhibition period to outline and clarify the various aspects of heritage listing in the draft LEP, including the application of 'Heritage Incentives'," Acting General Manager David Pavey explained.

In response to community concerns with the proposed E3 Environmental Management Zone in Wollombi and Mulbring, council has replaced it with the RU2 Rural Landscape Zone and applied an Environmentally Sensitive Lands overlay to ensure development is carried out with due regard to environmental constraints. Council has also committed to undertaking a Rural Lands Study in 2010/11 to further inform the appropriate management of rural lands.

Council will write to people who have already made a submission outlining and inviting comment on the proposed changes. While all submissions already received by council will remain valid during the re-exhibition of the draft LEP, this will help to target and manage the re-exhibition process.

A further report will be presented to Council for consideration following the re-exhibition of the draft LEP. Subject to the draft LEP being adopted by Council, the next step in September/October will be to send the draft LEP to the Planning Minister so it may be ‘signed off’ and passed into legislation.