Local Housing Strategy Review

Council has adopted its updated Local Housing Strategy 2026, providing a clear framework to guide housing growth and development across the region.

The strategy considers future housing demand, land availability and infrastructure capacity, establishing a staged approach to housing growth across Murray River Council’s towns.

🗃️ Project Background

The Local Housing Strategy (LHS) project commenced in 2022 with the intent to prepare a Council wide LHS which would:

• Establish a clear demographic evidence base;
• Identify housing demand/supply trends and diversity;
• Provide the projected residential land and dwelling requirements on a town-by-town basis;
• Assess the supply and capacity of our existing planning controls to cater for future demand in the short term (immediately to short term 0-10 years) and long term (10-20 years); and
• set triggers for residential land release based on tangible thresholds to ensure that we are monitoring and releasing land to strategically cater for growth.

A draft LHS was prepared in 2023 and was endorsed by Council but was not endorsed at the time by the NSW State Government Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI).

The previous draft LHS documents, community engagement undertaken and project history can be accessed via the Related Projects tab on this page.

📂 Developing the updated Local Housing Strategy

Upon review, it was identified that the 2023 draft LHS did not meet requirements for future development and strategic planning within the Local Government Area. In particular, DPHI and other state agencies identified the 2023 draft LHS did not clearly address;

• clear growth outcomes and policy positions for future development opportunities;
• information regarding growth areas identified for short, medium and long-term development outcomes; and
• alignment between infrastructure provision and some of these growth areas.

We are now reviewing and updating the LHS to ensure it is fit for purpose.

🙋 Who had input into the review?

The significant community engagement program undertaken to develop the 2023 draft LHS supported the development of the updated LHS, with further targeted engagement occurring with stakeholders such as NSW State Government Authorities, neighbouring councils (including Victorian Councils) and local private developers.

The project was also delivered with support from consultants, HillPDA.

🔊 The latest update: August 2026

The final Murray River Council Local Housing Strategy was formally adopted by Council on 25 August 2026.

This revised Strategy gives council and the community a stronger, evidence-based framework to manage growth in a coordinated and sustainable way. It also provides clearer guidance for developers and landowners while ensuring decisions align with Council’s long-term strategic priorities.

All future Planning Proposals pursuing residential rezoning or intensification of housing density will be required to be consistent with the outcomes of this Strategy.

Council will now seek final endorsement of the Strategy from Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI).