The plan is intentionally interwoven with other instruments and sits within the statutory architecture governed by the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and a range of State Acts and State environmental planning policies. The plan’s text specifically references, adopts, or defers to other laws and maps in material ways.
Adoption of the Model Provisions: the plan adopts the Environmental Planning and Assessment Model Provisions 1980 for its purposes, except for listed clauses (cl 5). That adoption imports a template legal framework into the plan while carving out particular model provisions, so practitioners must be aware that the plan’s operation is in part defined by the Model Provisions as adopted.
Cross‑references to State Acts and SEPPs: the plan cross‑refers to the Water Management Act 2000 (relevant for subdivision and riparian rights; see cl 18(4)(e) and cl 29(2)(g)), the Heritage Act 1977 (cl 50), and a suite of other State Acts and SEPPs. Part 4 expressly allows State environmental planning policies to apply to land in the Illawarra Regional Business Park site except State Environmental Planning Policy No 1 (cl 68). The plan also amends State Environmental Planning Policy No 4 by inserting a clause (see cl 4(2) in the text), and refers to other State instruments such as the SEPP for BASIX (cl 64A and cl 77 exclusions).
Planning hierarchy and precedence in Part 4: cl 65(2) states that no other provision in the plan (except clauses 6, 11 and 64B-64E) applies to the land to which Part 4 applies. Part 4 also declares that the only environmental planning instruments that apply to the Illawarra Regional Business Park site are this Part and all State environmental planning policies, except SEPP No 1 (cl 68). This creates a specific local hierarchy for that site where State EPIs play a direct role and many other local clauses are displaced.
Regulatory links with aviation and safety law: for development within the plan area that is affected by the Airport Height Limitation and Noise Exposure Forecast Plan, the consent authority must ensure proposals are acceptable for building height, noise exposure, lighting and bird hazard management. Where a proposal does not comply with the Airport Plan, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority must be given notice and its comments within 28 days must be taken into consideration (cl 61; cl 75(3)(c)). That embeds an inter‑agency consultation requirement and ensures aviation safety regulation informs local consent decisions.
Land acquisition law and owner‑initiated acquisition: cl 33 and cl 35 provide owners of land in arterial and local roads reservation zones with rights to require acquisition by state authorities or the Council, and cl 80 establishes the relevant acquisition authority for land on the Land Reservation Acquisition Map. The plan explicitly links to the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 and notes the Minister’s role for unlisted authorities (cl 80). That means land acquisition law will govern compensation, timing and acquisition process.
Conservation, Crown and specialist instruments that limit suspension of covenants: cl 82 suspends covenants, agreements or similar instruments to the extent necessary to enable development under the plan, but a list of statutory instruments and agreements is protected from that suspension. Those include instruments under the Crown Land Management Act 2016, conservation agreements under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, property vegetation plans under the Native Vegetation Act 2003, and biobanking agreements under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (cl 82(2)(a)-(g)). The plan therefore interacts with, and is subordinated in part to, specific conservation instruments that remain enforceable despite the plan’s suspension clause.
Heritage and archaeological law: cl 50 requires applicants and the consent authority to be satisfied that necessary excavation permits under the Heritage Act 1977 have been granted before consent for works on non‑Aboriginal archaeological sites is issued. Similarly, Aboriginal heritage considerations and notification obligations in cl 49 create statutory consultation flows that sit adjacent to the Heritage Act process.
Environmental controls: the plan directly intersects with environmental approvals by requiring specific documents (acid sulfate assessments per accepted guidelines, cl 41; environmental management and rehabilitation plans for extractive industry, cl 21), and by referencing other planning measures for exempt and complying development (Shellharbour DCP No 11/98; cl 11). Where environmental performance commitments,such as BASIX certificates,apply, the plan excludes such standards from being varied via the exceptions clause (cl 64A(8); cl 77(6)(b)), thereby protecting cross‑instrument environmental commitments.
Procedural regulation via the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021: the plan notes that the Regulation requires the development application to be accompanied by a document setting out the grounds for contravention of development standards when seeking an exception under cl 64A or cl 77 (cl 64A(3) note; cl 77 note). Practitioners must therefore pair the plan's exceptions clauses with the Regulation’s procedural requirements.
In short, the plan is not an isolated instrument: it prescribes local duties and constraints while presupposing and deferring to State laws, mapping instruments, aviation safety processes, heritage laws and statutory acquisition procedures. For any project, the plan must be read alongside the Act, the stated State Acts, the referenced SEPPs, the relevant maps and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation to determine the complete legal and procedural pathway.