The NSW Government has introduced a new statewide Community Participation Plan as part of landmark reforms to make the planning system faster, fairer and more outcomes focused.
The new statewide plan replaces more than 100 different community participation plans that were in effect across NSW, ensuring consultation requirements are clear and consistent, and everyone has an equal opportunity to shape the communities where they live and work.
It standardises public exhibition and notification timeframes and focuses consultation where it can have the greatest impact.
A draft Community Participation Plan was released for public feedback between 8 April and 3 June 2026. We received 629 formal submissions via the NSW Planning Portal and 391 survey responses.
We’d like to thank everyone who took the time to provide feedback on the draft plan. Your feedback has informed the final Community Participation Plan.
Some of the key changes we made in response to feedback include:
- Exhibition timeframes for strategic plans such as draft district and regional plans, and local strategic planning statements have increased to a minimum of 60 days.
- Residential flat buildings and shop top housing development types will remain subject to a minimum 14-day exhibition period.
- Retention of minimum exhibition timeframes.
- A refined list of lower impact development types that will not require exhibition.
View the What we heard report for more information on how we responded to your feedback.
More information
We’ve published answers to some frequently asked questions alongside the new Community Participation Plan. Please visit Community Participation Plans to view this supporting information.
If you’d like to speak with someone from the Department about the new Community Participation Plan, please email [email protected] and one of our team members will be in touch as soon as possible.