The draft CCSCP has emerged as a potential preview of what may lie ahead as the Australian Government implements its "nature positive" environmental reforms.

The latest update on the EPBC Act reforms is that legislation will be introduced to Parliament before the end of 2025. 

In the meantime, according to the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water's (Federal DCCEEW) website, part of the EPBC Act reforms will involve regional planning, to "support better and faster decision-making under the Act, and will help restore, protect, and manage the environment."

The Federal Minister for the Environment has been reported to have stated that the "regional plans" would create "no-go" zones where development will be restricted and mapped areas where individual site assessments will not be required.

On its webpage last updated on 3 October 2025, the Federal DCCEEW has confirmed it is developing a pilot regional plan in NSW, which "will help manage the tensions between the environment and urban development in the Central Coast and Lake Macquarie". 

The draft CCSCP has been prepared pursuant to an agreement made on 11 November 2024 (under the existing EPBC Act), to undertake a strategic assessment of the Central Coast. The agreement is between the Minister for the Environment and Water and the NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces.

The draft CCSCP has now been prepared and public exhibition has recently commenced. Submissions can be made until 11 November 2025. Further details are available on the Planning NSW website.

There are five documents currently on exhibition in relation to the CCSCP by the NSW Government:

• Draft plan

• Explanation of Intended Effect

• Draft Commitments and actions

• Draft Strategic Assessment Report

• Strategic Biodiversity Component factsheet

• Technical factsheet - Mitigation measures

The NSW Government's Explanation of Intended Effect states that: 

"Once approved by the State and Federal Ministers for Environment, the CCSCP will provide investment certainty and streamline the delivery of new housing, infrastructure and jobs by removing the need for landholders on certified urban capable land to seek their own statutory biodiversity approvals on a site-by-site basis."

This is reminiscent of the practical benefits that some landowners and developers experienced in relation to the biodiversity certification of the Growth Centres State Environmental Planning Policy (Sydney Region Growth Centres) 2006, which has recently (on 6 June 2025) been extended for one year to 30 June 2026.

Returning to the proposed CCSCP, the draft identifies "certified land", where development can proceed without further biodiversity approvals, and "non-certified land", where clearing is restricted and rezoning is limited to conservation or public recreation zones. The two categories of land are described on the NSW Planning website as:

"Certified urban capable land – will have upfront state and federal biodiversity approvals, through the plan. Landholders will not be required to seek their own biodiversity approvals if they want to develop their land. A landholder is still required to seek other relevant planning approvals before development, which will include mitigation measures to reduce the impacts on biodiversity.

Non-certified land – is not suitable for more intensive development. Current land uses can continue, however native vegetation clearing will be restricted."

It appears from the NSW Government's website that the distinction between the two has been based on extensive surveys conducted by independent ecologists.

NSW planning controls will restrict development on the "non-certified land" including:

• development consent being required to clear native vegetation (and restrictions on when consent can be granted);

• asset protection zones being wholly "certified land", not adjoining "non-certified land";

• non-certified land will not be able to be rezoned for more intensive land uses, and the preferred zoning will be C2 (Environmental Conservation) or RE1 (Public Recreation); and

• limits on circumstances in which development applications for essential infrastructure will be approved on "non-certified land".

With EPBC Act reform legislation expected to be introduced before the end of the year, we expect that this will occur in the next few weeks, given that the last sitting week for Parliament is in November 2025. 

In the meantime, the CCSCP offers a preview of how plans which aim for streamlined, strategic biodiversity assessment could soon become standard practice across Australia. It involves new forms of coordination between State and Federal environmental legislation to balance conservation with certainty for landowners and developers.

If you would like to discuss how the proposed EPBC Act reforms or the CCSCP may affect your interests or projects, please reach out to our Planning, Government, Infrastructure & Environment team for further guidance.