About the Policy

Some of the most significant planning reforms in years are now in place in NSW, and Mosman’s urban environment is expected to change significantly.

Stage 2 of the NSW Government Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy commenced on 28 February 2025, changing planning controls within 800 metres walking distance around 171 town centres and stations across Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Illawarra-Shoalhaven and Hunter regions.

In Mosman, the new controls apply to land zoned R2 Low Density Residential and R3 Medium Density Residential within 800 metres walking distance of the land shown shaded blue in the extracts of the Town Centres Map below:

Spit Junction Town Centre	Cremorne Town Centre

The new controls will override Council’s planning controls and allow higher and denser development than is currently permitted.

Certain land is excluded from the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy, relevant to Mosman this includes:

• bushfire-prone land
• coastal wetlands, littoral rainforest or a coastal vulnerability area 
• heritage items.

The Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy does not apply to Employment zones or land zoned C4 Environmental Living.

Council has been working alongside the community to understand the implications for Mosman. To encourage community awareness about the planning reforms, a video has been produced to help further explain the changes and potential impacts.

Council continues to raise the following concerns about the Stage 2 reforms:

• Council should be allowed to accommodate the State’s housing targets in areas of Mosman Council’s choosing rather that this one-size-fits-all approach which has no regard to the individual circumstances of Mosman.
• The new controls will irrevocably alter the character of place established under Mosman Local Environmental Plan 2012 and will represent a transformative change to Mosman’s urban environment and will result in substantially larger built forms, dwelling yield and future population than Council and the community had anticipated. This is exacerbated in heritage conservation areas, which are not excluded from the changes.
• The reforms affect Council’s ability to ensure our communities will remain sustainable in the future with sufficient tree canopy to combat climate change and the urban heat island effect with substantially less landscaping than what is currently required for new medium density development under Mosman Local Environmental Plan 2012.
• DPHI has not released modelling at a State or individual council level to gauge the impact of these reforms, it is therefore unclear what the likely uptake of these reforms might be in Mosman. There has been no analysis about the impacts of the changes on things like traffic, parking, and community facilities, which are vital for our communities.
• The additional residential yields enabled under the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy will have longer term implications in terms of placing significant additional demand on infrastructure and services. The State Government has provided no additional investment in infrastructure to support the uplift. 

Applications lodged

The following development applications have been lodged under the Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy. Click the links below to learn more about each proposal: