New South Wales

THE NSW Government this week announced that it has approved the State's first commercial solar farm near Nyngan in north-western NSW.

The $300 million farm will be located approximately 2 kilometres from the Nyngan township and will be constructed over 200 hectares. Planning Minister Tony Kelly said the location was ideal as it is a hot and dry part of NSW.

"Today's approval of the $300 million project is a milestone in the State's bid to promote renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Mr Kelly said.

SYDNEY'S convict heritage will be protected at The Rocks, after the NSW Government this week granted heritage status to an archaeological site in the area.

Planning Minister Tony Kelly said the Cumberland Street Archaeological Site has been placed on the State Heritage Register after satisfying all seven of the NSW Heritage Council's listing criteria.

"The site contains rare physical evidence of Sydney's convict past, including the relics of 46 historic houses and two lanes," Mr Kelly said.

A PROPOSED $210 million expansion of the Hunter Valley's rail infrastructure has been approved by the NSW Government in an effort to increase the capacity, reliability and performance of the region's coal transportation network.

The government said that the construction of a third rail track between Maitland and Minimbah adjacent to the Main Northern Railway would provide additional network capacity ahead of forecast increases in demand and throughput at the Port of Newcastle.

THE NSW Government announced on Thursday that a proposed $12 million residential subdivision at Sandy Beach, on the NSW north coast, has been given partial concept approval.

The government has approved a scaled-back version of the concept plan for Sandy Beach North, allowing for a development of a maximum 200 lots. The proponent was seeking approval for 280 lots.

NSW Planning Minister, Tony Kelly, has approved a state significant site listing and voluntary planning agreement for the 1,700 hectare Lower Hunter site, near Braxton.

In July, the Department of Planning announced that JBA Urban Planning, on behalf of Huntlee Pty Ltd, had lodged a request for the Planning Minister to consider the rezoning of the Huntlee site by including it as a State Significant Site.

Yesterday's approval of the state significant site listing enables the site to be rezoned to facilitate the proposed development of Huntlee New Town.

THE NSW Government is currently undertaking the first year review of the Affordable Rental Housing State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) that aims to promote the construction of affordable housing.

The review seeks to determine how the policy provisions are working and to consider ways to improve its effectiveness.

The policy was introduced in July 2009 in response to concern about the long term decline in the availability of affordable rental housing.

A PROPOSAL to develop part of Frenchs Forest into a major medical, employment and retail cluster around the proposed Northern Beaches Hospital has been released for public feedback.

The NSW Department of Planning has placed a number of planning documents on exhibition, including a State Significant Site study and proposed new zonings and planning controls to facilitate the growth of Frenchs Forest.

SYDNEY has a new metropolitan plan following the release of the 'Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036' by NSW Premier Kristina Keneally last week.

The new Metropolitan Plan, which supersedes the previous metropolitan strategy released in 2005, incorporates the $50.2 billion Metropolitan Transport Plan and has a vision that:

"By 2036, Sydney will be a more compact, networked city with improved accessibility, capable of supporting more jobs, homes and lifestyle opportunities within the existing urban footprint."

The new plan builds on the previous strategy's approach of a 'city of cities' through the transformation of Sydney from a single centred city to a more connected, multi–centred city.

APPROXIMATELY 100 hectares of rural land at the north of Junction Hill will be released for housing development following approval from NSW Planning Minister Tony Kelly.

The Minister said the release of the land will deliver housing for around 1,500 people.

The land release was approved last week with Mr Kelly signing an amendment to the existing Copmanhurst local environmental plan.

THE first three areas to be investigated for revitalisation and renewal by the NSW Government have been identified in new maps published by the government last week.

The maps show the boundaries of the three identified urban renewal areas and are part of the new Urban Renewal State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP).

Newcastle CBD, Redfern-Waterloo and the Granville town centre are the three areas identified for renewal.

THE amended concept plan for the $6 billion Barangaroo development in Sydney has received approval from the NSW Government.

Premier Kristina Keneally, joined on site by Planning Minister Tony Kelly, made the announcement at Barangaroo on Thursday.

"Today's announcement is a major step in our delivery of one of the biggest and most prestigious urban renewal projects in the world," Ms Keneally said.

THE NSW Government has revoked the City of Sydney's new development control plan (DCP) for late-night trading.

Making the announcement last week, Planning Minister Tony Kelly said he had made the decision to revoke the plan because it is an inappropriate use of planning powers and had caused uncertainty in the community.

"The proposed changes would have allowed the council to review conditions for operating hours and patron capacity at 14 days' notice, along with subjecting premises to potentially endless rolling trial periods for operating hours beyond 'base' approved hours," Mr Kelly said.