Amending an SSI application after it has been submitted
With the approval of the Planning Secretary, the proponent of a State significant infrastructure (SSI) project may amend what it is seeking approval for at any time before the application is determined.
These amendments may be needed to:
- improve the design of the project
- respond to issues raised in submissions
- further mitigate the impacts of the project.
The proponent is required to submit an amendment report with their amendment application.
Preparing an amendment report
The purpose of the amendment report is to outline the changes to the project and to help the community, government agencies and the approval authority understand the implications of these changes.
The proponent must have regard to the State Significant Infrastructure Guidelines-Preparing an Amendment Report (Appendix D) when preparing the report.
Once complete, the proponent must submit the amendment report online via the NSW planning portal.
What happens after the amendment report has been submitted?
The department will publish the amended SSI application and amendment report on the NSW planning portal.
The department will consider if there is a material environmental impact beyond the impacts expected by the initially proposed project in determining whether the amendment report will be publicly exhibited.
If the amendment report is exhibited, the department will publish all submissions online and ask the applicant to prepare a submissions report.
What if a preferred infrastructure report is requested?
If amendments are proposed by the proponent and the Planning Secretary has requested a preferred infrastructure report (PIR), the amendments may be described in the PIR. In this case, the proponent does not need to submit an amendment report.
The changes need to be clearly described and identified as being requested by the proponent. This separates the changes from those required to minimise environmental impact or deal with any issues raised during the assessment of the application.