The NSW Government is committed to delivering more well-located and affordable homes near transport, amenities and jobs.
The Transport Oriented Development (TOD) Accelerated Precincts will play a significant role in boosting housing supply near major transport hubs while promoting walkable, vibrant areas.
The Bella Vista and Kellyville precincts were identified as accelerated precincts due to their close proximity to metro stations and key public transport interchanges, promoting walking and cycling opportunities.
This rezoning amends the planning controls for the Bella Vista and Kellyville TOD Accelerated Precincts. This rezoning will provide:
- capacity for 4,600 new homes
- 3,800 new jobs across the precinct
- affordable housing contributions of between 3% to 10% for all new residential development in the precinct
- new and improved public open spaces
- new pathways and active transport links.
You can find more information in the final rezoning documents located on the NSW Planning Portal.
Community consultation
The Bella Vista and Kellyville Rezoning Proposal was exhibited for public consultation between 9 July and 23 August 2024.
During the exhibition period, the Department hosted multiple in-person community sessions and webinars. These sessions allowed us to directly engage with 1,116 members of the local community, resulting in 5,390 submissions for consideration.
We thank the local community and other key stakeholders for providing feedback during public exhibition.
Following detailed consideration of submissions received during exhibition, several changes were made to the rezoning. These included:
- removal of Glenwood and Stanhope Gardens from the rezoning
- capacity for 2,060 more homes close to the metro stations
- more flexible planning controls for key sites to encourage faster development
- better public amenities, with more trees and additional landscaping
- more public open spaces.
The rezoning came into effect on 27 November 2024.
Policy changes to streamline development assessment
We have introduced policy changes to streamline development assessment and accelerate housing delivery in the TOD Accelerated Precincts.
The reforms aim to have a consistent approach to both rezoning and assessment across the precincts.
An Explanation of Intended Effect (EIE) outlining the proposed changes was on exhibition for public feedback between 9 July and 23 August 2024.
Feedback from the exhibition was taken into consideration and the changes implemented in the TOD Accelerated Precincts include:
- a temporary State Significant Development pathway until November 2027 for residential development applications valued over $60 million in the TOD Accelerated Precincts
- height and floor-space bonuses and the associated State Significant Development pathway for in-fill affordable housing will be turned off to avoid conflict with planning controls in TOD Accelerated Precincts, which include requirements for affordable housing
- a 3-year exemption from some low-risk concurrence and referral requirements at the DA stage to speed up assessment timeframes because these matters have been addressed at the rezoning stage
- introducing a specific design excellence pathway in place of design competitions to streamline the delivery of housing while maintaining high-quality design. For more information go to Exemption from design competitions.
To see the final changes visit the NSW Planning Portal.
What happens next
Amendments have now been made to The Hills Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and new planning controls are now in effect. Development Applications (DA) can now be lodged with The Hills Shire Council to assess development in accordance with these new controls. Any existing DAs will be assessed based on controls in effect at the time of lodgement.
Frequently asked questions
In developing the Transport Oriented Development (TOD) Program, the Department undertook analysis of 305 transport stations within the Greater Sydney, Hunter, Central Coast and Illawarra regions to identify locations that have enabling rail, water and wastewater infrastructure capacity near the transport station to support additional housing growth.
Bella Vista and Kellyville were chosen for accelerated rezoning under the TOD Program announced in December 2023.
For more information, read the TOD Program assessment criteria (PDF, 121 KB).
Under the TOD Program, the Department led on the rezoning to address housing supply and affordability challenges and help meet the NSW Government's commitments under the National Housing Accord to deliver 377,000 new, well-located homes across the state by 2029.
Amendments have now been made to local planning rules in The Hills Shire Council area.
The delivery of new open space and parks to support growth in Kellyville and Bella Vista is an important component of this rezoning.
The NSW Government has committed $520 million to provide active transport links and good quality public open spaces in the TOD Accelerated Precincts.
The new Housing and Productivity Contribution will contribute towards providing state and regional infrastructure such as roads, hospitals and schools.
Council will continue to collect local infrastructure contributions from all development in the precinct.
The Department will continue to work with The Hills Shire Council and key state agencies to ensure additional growth resulting from the rezoning is reflected by council’s infrastructure contributions plan to allow for the collection of funding towards local infrastructure such as roads, parks and cycleways.
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has worked collaboratively with key state agencies, including Health NSW and the Department of Education, to ensure sufficient infrastructure is provided to support the growth in the precinct.
The Department of Education has advised that in addition to a planned primary school for the precincts, further capacity will be required to meet demands in the precincts in the future.
The Department of Education will continue to monitor growth to ensure adequate capacity is provided to support the future population of the precinct.
The Department is encouraging local councils to establish special entertainment precincts to make sure that the TOD accelerated precincts are lively and vibrant places to live, work and play.
The Department will assist councils to identify appropriate areas in the TOD locations to maximise the benefits of having a Special Entertainment Precinct and help councils make this change to their local planning instruments.
For more information go to Special Entertainment Precincts.
The Department has established a 3% base rate across all sites and higher rates for key sites within all the TOD accelerated precincts.
In the Bella Vista and Kellyville TOD Accelerated Precincts, there are 8 key sites identified which will have mandatory contributions of 3% to 10% affordable housing.
All affordable housing contributions within the TOD Accelerated Precincts are mandatory either as a monetary contribution or an in-kind contribution, and any affordable homes provided must be managed by a registered Community Housing Provider (CHP).
A savings provision is included which means that any development applications that are currently lodged (but not yet determined) with a council or the Department are not required to pay this affordable housing contribution, however they will still be required to pay the contribution that applied when the development application was lodged.
Key sites were selected following detailed economic analysis of individual site characteristics and against the objectives of the rezoning. Affordable housing rates were developed based on feasibility testing, which considered other contributions, fees and charges and development costs.
This rezoning provides the opportunity for growth and change over the next 10–15 years and beyond. It is likely that development will occur in a staged manner in the short, medium and long term. The uptake of development will be subject to market conditions and development feasibility.