FAQs
Why are we creating the Local Housing Strategy?
To cater to a changing and growing population, we want to understand what our community needs in terms of housing. To do this, we engaged Zenith Town Planning - and more recently Wakefield Planning - to prepare a council-wide Housing Strategy which will consider what we have now, and what we will need to meet our future housing demands.
We have already passed State Government populations predictions, so to truly understand where our growth is headed, we have also completed our own population projections which will be fundamental to outcomes of this Housing Strategy.
Along with population increase, the Strategy will also consider things like the different forms of housing, servicing, and the "where" and "when" of releasing new residential land to meet housing demand. Please see the Documents tab, which provides some of the more technical info surrounding housing types and definitions.
What consultation has taken place?
As a first step in gathering information for the Housing Strategy, we sought your feedback about how we should address some of the issues that affect providing new housing. There were multiple ways to share your ideas, which included taking our survey, using the Map Pin tool, providing a written submission, or asking us a question.
Your answers and feedback during Phase 1 of consultation were brilliant, with a healthy level of response received from a diverse section of our communities. Thank you so much for making the effort to help shape housing outcomes in Murray River Council!
We have been drafting the Strategy since November 2021. The completion of the Strategy has been stretched out as we needed to wait for the 2021 Census data release in June 2022 to help underpin and inform key outcomes in the Strategy.
How do I find information about my property?
There is a great website run by the NSW State Government which allows you to search for any property in NSW using things like the address or the Lot and Deposited Plan (the title info). Once you have searched an address you can look through the results on the right to find things like the zoning, the minimum lot size, or any other planning layer that may be relevant (for example, things like heritage, hazard, or biodiversity). Follow this link to access the page (there are also handy how-to instructions within the page if you get stuck). 
What does 'minimum lot size' mean?
Minimum lot size is a planning control which sets the minimum area a lot must meet for subdivision to be completed. Minimum lot size can also come into effect if you are applying to build a house in the RU1 Primary Production Zone or the E3 Environmental Protection zone, or if you seek to subdivide RU1 zoned land which already has a house on the lot. For further info about minimum lot size, please feel free to contact the planning team for a chat.
What is a Local Environmental Plan (LEP)?
An LEP is an Environmental Planning Instrument prepared by a Council, in consultation with their community and approved by the Minister for Planning (or their delegate). It includes development standards that aim to guide the future development of land and the management of environmental, social, economic, heritage and cultural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.
We currently have two LEPs that cover the Murray River Council area:
What is a Development Control Plan (DCP)
A Development Control Plan (DCP) is a document prepared by the Council which provides detailed guidelines which assist a person proposing to undertake a development. At Murray River Council we currently have two DCPs
There are also seven Appendices forming part of the Wakool DCP 2013, found here