The draft environmental plan included a goal of 20-minute “walkability” to shops and parks for new neighbourhoods,revamped design rules to make new apartments better ventilated and more appealing and a requirement for green spaces in new developments.
On Tuesday,Mr Roberts told a lunch organised by developer group Urban Taskforce Australia that the government would not proceed with the draft SEPP. Nor would the government make any changes to the current design guide for apartments,he said.
The announcement was met with applause from the audience of developers and financiers.
The Urban Taskforce had fiercely opposed the proposed regime as “unworkable and inadequate” when it was released last December,only a few weeks before Mr Roberts was given the new portfolio in a reshuffle.
Mr Roberts has now effectively dumped two years’ worth of reforms that Mr Stokes and State Architect Abbie Galvin had promised would have put “sustainability,resilience,and quality of places at the forefront of development in NSW”.
Two weeks ago,Mr Roberts revoked a ministerial directive by Stokes outlining nine planning principles,including a requirement that councils risks like flood associated with climate change.
On Tuesday,he dumped the draft SEPP,which had reflected Stokes’ principles.