What is a community participation plan (CPP)?
Community engagement is a collective term which covers consultation and collaboration between Council and a range of stakeholders. Community consultation aims to empower stakeholders (the community) by enabling them to participate in decisions and processes which impact them. The concept of community engagement is often thought of as being on a spectrum from low level engagement or consultation to high level engagement or empowerment.
The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (the Act) recognises the importance of community engagement in the successful implementation of a planning decisions and the value that community engagement can offer decision makers and the decision making process. To formalise this, the Act mandates that Council, as a planning authority, is to prepare and adopt a community participation plan (the CPP) which details the mandatory provisions for notification in accordance with Part 1 Schedule 1 of the Act as well as any local provisions.
The CPP is a plain English document which seeks to encourage effective and on-going partnerships with the community to provide meaningful opportunities for community participation in planning by giving the community every opportunity to participate in strategic planning, have a say on major development which they may be affected by and ensure that there is transparency in decision making processes.
Statewide plan changes how the community is notified about development
From 1 September 2026, the NSW Government’s Statewide Community Participation Plan takes effect across New South Wales, changing how and when Development Applications are publicly exhibited and neighbours are notified.
The statewide plan replaces more than 100 separate plans previously operating across the State, including Council’s own Community Participation Plan. That plan no longer applies. Exhibition and notification requirements are now set by the NSW Government and apply consistently in every local government area.
The most significant practical change for residents is a reduction in public exhibition and notification. Notification of adjoining owners and publicly exhibition of a range of lower impact development of up to two storeys, including new dwellings, alterations and additions to existing dwellings, dual occupancies, secondary dwellings, and subdivisions of up to 5 lots will no longer occur. Modifications to previous approvals for these types of development are affected in the same way.
Council did not seek these changes and has no discretion to reinstate the broader notification arrangements it previously applied. Council acknowledge that residents in Cootamundra, Gundagai, and the surrounding villages are accustomed to being notified about development near their homes, that Council understands the change will be unwelcome for some.
Residents should be aware that the absence of a notification letter does not mean no Development Application has been lodged nearby.
Applications lodged but not yet determined before today remain subject to the requirements that applied when they were lodged.
The NSW Government has said the reforms shift consultation earlier in the planning process, towards strategic planning and larger, more complex proposals. Residents who wish to influence the longer term future of the region are encouraged to take part in strategic planning consultation, including Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan reviews, where the opportunity to shape development is now greatest.
Further information on the Statewide Community Participation Plan is available on the NSW Planning website Home | Planning or click on the link below: