Hazardous development
Chapter 3 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 and the associated guideline, Applying SEPP 33, include provisions (legal conditions) for assessing potentially hazardous and offensive development. These provisions ensure the planning and design of development assess safety and hazard issues.
Several Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Papers (HIPAPs) and an Assessment Guideline: Multi-level Risk Assessment also support the SEPP and give guidance on the assessment process. For more detail view the Guideline Summary (PDF, 296 KB).
Guidelines
- Hazardous and Offensive Development Application Guidelines – Applying SEPP 33 (PDF, 483 KB)
- Assessment Guideline – Multi-level Risk Assessment (PDF, 607 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 1 – Emergency Planning (PDF, 523 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 2 – Fire Safety Study Guidelines (PDF, 510 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 3 – Risk Assessment (PDF, 1003 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 4 – Risk Criteria for Land Use Safety Planning (PDF, 366 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 5 – Hazard Audit Guidelines (PDF, 312 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 6 – Hazard Analysis (PDF, 521 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 7 – Construction Safety (PDF, 289 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 8 – HAZOP Guidelines (PDF, 1.1 MB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 9 – Safety Management (PDF, 337 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 10 – Land Use Safety Planning (PDF, 1.1 MB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 11 – Route Selection (PDF, 911 KB)
- Hazardous Industry Planning Advisory Paper No 12 – Hazards-Related Conditions of Consent (PDF, 284 KB)
Integrated assessment
The SEPP and Guidelines:
- require developers and consent authorities (such as councils) to assess the hazard risks associated with a proposed development before giving approval for construction and operation
- provide an integrated process for the assessment and management of potentially hazardous development proposals by:
- performing a preliminary hazard analysis to support the development application by showing that risk levels do not preclude approval
- conducting a hazard and operability study, fire safety study and updating the hazard analysis done during the design phase
- carrying out a safety study for the construction and commissioning phases, particularly when the project interacts with existing operations
- implementing a safety management system and emergency plan during ongoing operations
- conducting regular independent hazard audits to verify the integrity of the safety systems and that the facility is being operated in line with its hazards-related conditions of consent.
Safer industrial facilities
To support the development of safer industrial facilities and protect the community, we:
- undertake area risk assessment studies around potentially hazardous facilities, such as studies already undertaken of the Botany/Randwick, Port Botany, Kurnell and Kooragang Island industrial areas. View the Kurnell Peninsula Land Use Safety Study (2007) (PDF, 784 KB). Note, the Kurnell site has been converted to a fuel depot, but the key findings remain relevant.
- develop supporting land use safety planning policies and safety-based locational guidelines
- assess safety and hazard studies related to proposals for new developments associated with major industrial and infrastructure projects, and conditions of consent for state significant and smaller local developments
- provide support to local councils for issues around hazardous industry
- promote compliance with safety-related development consent conditions
- provide technical advice about process safety and off-site risk impacts
- develop technical advisory documents, especially relating to process safety.
Sites of interest
Botany Industrial Park (BIP) is a 73 hectare industrial complex located at Banksmeadow, in south-east Sydney. Major industrial uses have been happening at the site since the 1940s. Three chemical companies currently operate within the site – Orica, Qenos and Huntsman. Further information can be found in the: