Local Planning Scheme and Maps

Every City evolves, and to reflect these changes, amendments to the City's Local Planning Scheme No. 3 (LPS3) might be required. These proposed modifications to the LPS3 are termed 'scheme amendments'. Various stakeholders can suggest these amendments, be it landowners, State Government entities, or even the City. However, the authority to kickstart a scheme amendment remains exclusively with the City. Notably, once a scheme amendment is initiated, the responsibility of carrying it forward falls upon the City.

Scheme amendments can be initiated for numerous reasons, such as:

• Zoning changes: Modifying land zones to make way for new development projects.
• Scheme wording: Changing the wording to ensure the scheme functions effectively. 
• Strategic vision: Bringing changes that are in line with the broader visions set out in the local planning strategy.
• Upholding proper planning: Ensuring that planning is orderly and proper.

When you want to change the zoning (known as 'rezoning') of a property, it requires an application for a scheme amendment. Rezoning might involve converting a 'Mixed Use' site to a 'Commercial' one. Adjusting the residential density, which essentially sets the number of dwellings permissible on a property, is termed as 'recoding.' This process, too, requires a scheme amendment.

The City generally does not support ad-hoc rezonings or recoding if they do not align with the Local Planning Strategy.