{"id":"nsw:sl-2020-0537","name":"Environmental Planning and Assessment (Regions) Order 2020","slug":"environmental-planning-and-assessment-regions-order-2020","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"nsw","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"537 of 2020","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":176444,"registerId":"nsw-nsw:sl-2020-0537-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Name of Order","content":"#### 1 Name of Order\n\n1 Name of Order\n\n> This Order is the [Environmental Planning and Assessment (Regions) Order 2020](/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2020-0537).","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n2 Commencement\n\n> This Order commences on the day on which it is published on the NSW legislation website.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Declaration of regions","content":"#### 3 Declaration of regions\n\n3 Declaration of regions\n\n> For the purposes of Division 3.1 of Part 3 of the [Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979](/view/html/inforce/current/act-1979-203), the following regions are declared, with the names specified below, for the area of the State within the local government areas specified—\n> \n> > (a) Central Coast—comprising the local government area of Central Coast,\n> \n> > (b) Central West and Orana—comprising the local government areas of Bathurst Regional, Blayney, Bogan, Cabonne, Coonamble, Cowra, Dubbo Regional, Forbes, Gilgandra, Lachlan, Lithgow City, Mid-Western Regional, Narromine, Oberon, Orange City, Parkes, Warren, Warrumbungle and Weddin,\n> \n> > (c) Far West—comprising the local government areas of Balranald, Bourke, Brewarrina, Broken Hill City, Central Darling, Cobar, the Unincorporated Area, Walgett and Wentworth,\n> \n> > (d) Hunter—comprising the local government areas of Cessnock City, Dungog, Lake Macquarie City, Maitland City, Mid-Coast, Muswellbrook, Newcastle City, Port Stephens, Singleton and Upper Hunter,\n> \n> > (e) Illawarra-Shoalhaven—comprising the local government areas of Kiama, Shellharbour City, Shoalhaven City and Wollongong City,\n> \n> > (f) New England North West—comprising the local government areas of Armidale Regional, Glen Innes Severn, Gunnedah, Gwydir, Inverell, Liverpool Plains, Moree Plains, Narrabri, Tamworth Regional, Tenterfield, Uralla and Walcha,\n> \n> > (g) North Coast—comprising the local government areas of Ballina, Bellingen, Byron, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour City, Kempsey, Kyogle, Lismore City, Nambucca, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Richmond Valley and Tweed,\n> \n> > (h) Riverina Murray—comprising the local government areas of Albury City, Berrigan, Bland, Carrathool, Coolamon, Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional, Edward River, Federation, Greater Hume, Griffith City, Hay, Junee, Leeton, Lockhart, Murray River, Murrumbidgee, Narrandera, Snowy Valleys, Temora and Wagga Wagga City,\n> \n> > (i) South East and Tablelands—comprising the local government areas of Bega Valley, Eurobodalla, Goulburn Mulwaree, Hilltops, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional, Snowy Monaro Regional, Upper Lachlan, Wingecarribee and Yass Valley.","sortOrder":2}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Insufficient substantive content is available in the provided document to assess whether the scope changed from the original intent. The order appears to have remained unchanged since it commenced on 11 September 2020, with no amendments recorded."},"complexity_factors":["No substantive legislative text was provided — only website metadata and navigation elements were included in the document","Orders defining geographic regions are typically straightforward administrative instruments with schedules listing area boundaries","Complexity cannot be fully assessed without the actual operative provisions","Such orders are generally technical rather than legally complex, primarily involving geographic descriptions or references to maps"],"plain_english_summary":"This order establishes geographic regions for environmental planning and assessment in New South Wales, shaping which authorities and rules apply to development and strategic planning. It affects property developers, local councils, state planning agencies and landowners by influencing who assesses applications and how regional planning is coordinated.\n\nNote: the actual legislative text was not included in the provided document; this summary is based on the title and metadata only."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Order performs the expected, narrow function of declaring regions for the purposes of Division 3.1 of the Act. It does not expand statutory powers or create new obligations beyond fixing which local government areas belong to each named region."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative provision (s3) that lists region names and maps them to local government areas — low structural complexity","Depends on Division 3.1 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (cross‑reference reliance)","No procedural or discretionary rules in the Order itself — it is a declarative, not regulatory, instrument","Administrative implications if local government boundaries or names change (requires Order amendment)","Affects multiple decision‑makers (councils, state agencies, developers) through boundary definitions rather than new substantive powers"],"plain_english_summary":"This Order declares the planning regions used under Division 3.1 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and assigns which local government areas fall in each region. It affects local councils, state planning agencies, developers and others subject to regional planning controls because those administrative boundaries determine which regional planning rules and processes apply."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This legislation performs exactly the function its title suggests: declaring regions under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. It has not expanded beyond this single, specific purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 3 operative sections","No defined terms section","No cross-references to other legislation beyond a single reference to the parent Act","No conditional logic, exceptions or procedural requirements","Purely declaratory content: simply lists region names and their constituent local government areas","Straightforward tabular structure that could be presented as a simple table or map"],"plain_english_summary":"This Order divides New South Wales into nine planning regions for the purposes of strategic planning under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Creates a regional planning framework by grouping all 128 local government areas in NSW into nine named regions\n- Each region combines multiple neighbouring councils to enable coordinated, large-scale planning decisions\n\n**The nine regions are:**\n- **Central Coast** – just the Central Coast Council area\n- **Central West and Orana** – 18 council areas including Bathurst, Dubbo, Orange and surrounding rural areas\n- **Far West** – 9 council areas including Broken Hill and the state's remote western unincorporated area\n- **Hunter** – 10 council areas including Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Upper Hunter\n- **Illawarra-Shoalhaven** – 4 council areas from Wollongong to the Shoalhaven\n- **New England North West** – 12 council areas including Tamworth, Armidale and Moree\n- **North Coast** – 12 council areas from Tweed Heads to Coffs Harbour\n- **Riverina Murray** – 20 council areas including Wagga Wagga, Albury and Griffith\n- **South East and Tablelands** – 9 council areas including Queanbeyan, the Snowy Mountains and South Coast hinterland\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Local councils (who must now plan within these regional boundaries)\n- Property developers and landowners (whose development applications may be assessed against regional plans)\n- State planning authorities (who prepare regional strategic plans for each area)\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis provides the legal foundation for regional strategic plans that coordinate housing, infrastructure, environment and economic development across council boundaries. It prevents neighbouring councils from making contradictory planning decisions and ensures issues like water supply, transport corridors and environmental protection are managed at a landscape scale rather than suburb by suburb."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/environmental-planning-and-assessment-regions-order-2020","history":"/api/acts/environmental-planning-and-assessment-regions-order-2020/history","analysis":"/api/acts/environmental-planning-and-assessment-regions-order-2020/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/environmental-planning-and-assessment-regions-order-2020/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/environmental-planning-and-assessment-regions-order-2020/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/environmental-planning-and-assessment-regions-order-2020/documents"}}