When I stepped back from Council, I did so with clarity and optimism — not just about where our cities were headed, but about the role planning could play in shaping our future. For over two decades, I’ve worked at the intersection of planning, politics, and community, as a mayor, consultant, and researcher. I’ve seen the power of good planning to create liveable, inclusive, future-ready places. I’ve also seen how easily it can be derailed by short-term thinking — and how costly that can be for clients, communities, and councils alike. Greiss Planning exists to bring clarity, rigour, and steady leadership to the approvals process, so good projects can move forward with confidence.
Short answer: a scoping report is not legally required for a NSW planning proposal. The Department’s rewritten Local Environmental Plan Making Guideline calls scoping “not a legislative requirement” and it is not a step on the NSW Planning Portal. It is recommended for complex proposals and useful for standard ones — and it is now where the category is settled, the study list is written and council gives a preliminary view on merit. The changeover date is 1 July 2026, and it turns on Portal lodgement, not preparation.
If you are considering a rezoning, the front end of the process has changed. The first thing you now meet is Module 1 — Scoping report and advice: a scoping report, a pre-lodgement meeting, and written advice back before anything is lodged. Treating it as optional is the expensive reading, because the questions it asks do not go away. They simply arrive later, when the answers cost more to act on.
What actually changed
Five things, and they are connected:
- The guideline is now modular. Modules replace the single document: Module 1 Scoping report and advice, 2a Planning proposal request, 2b Rezoning review, 3a Gateway determination, 3b Gateway review, 4 Post Gateway and public exhibition, and 5 Finalisation.
- Proposal categories dropped from four to two. Basic, standard, complex and principal are gone. There is now standard and complex only, with principal LEPs folded into complex.
- The 54 section 9.1 Ministerial Directions became one. A single section 9.1 Ministerial Direction — Local Plan Making now covers the field.
- Circulars were consolidated, from 18 down to 12 active.
- Plan-making guidance was aligned with Development Coordination Authority referral settings, so agency consultation follows the same logic as the rest of the reformed system.
The headline clock looks unchanged: 320 working days for a standard proposal and 420 for a complex one, measured across Modules 2 to 5. Days in the guideline are working days, and they exclude weekends, public holidays and 20 December to 10 January.
But read that carefully, because the categories moved underneath it. Housekeeping amendments and heritage listings used to be basic, with a 220 working-day benchmark. Basic no longer exists — those amendments are now standard, at 320. For the most routine changes to an LEP, the benchmark did not stay the same. It went up by 100 working days.
Is a scoping report compulsory?
No — and this is the part most commentary gets wrong.
The guideline recommends a scoping report for complex planning proposals. For standard proposals it says you can proceed directly to lodgement, though a scoping report or pre-lodgement meeting “may be beneficial to confirm information requirements and key issues”.
So the honest position is: recommended for complex, useful for standard, mandatory for neither.
The practical position is different. Council’s written scoping advice tells you which category the proposal falls into, which studies it expects, what consultation will be required, and its preliminary view on merit. Skipping Module 1 does not avoid those questions. It defers them to a stage where the answers are more expensive.
What goes into a scoping report?
The Department says a scoping report should outline:
- the proposal and its intended outcomes;
- the site and its context;
- preliminary strategic merit;
- key site-specific issues and constraints;
- the studies and investigations likely to be required.
The guideline publishes a Scoping Report Template among its supporting templates, alongside the planning proposal framework, consultation guidance and standard study requirements.
In practice, preliminary strategic merit is the part that gets underdone. Site constraints are easy to describe and easy to map. Strategic merit asks a harder question: which endorsed strategic plan does this proposal give effect to, and where in that plan is the support for it? A scoping report that describes the site beautifully and answers that question thinly will draw advice that says so.
How long does the scoping stage take?
The benchmark for Module 1 is 50 working days for a standard proposal and 60 for a complex one.
Two things are worth knowing about that number. First, it sits outside the 320/420 benchmark, which is measured from Modules 2 to 5 — so scoping adds to your real-world program even though it does not appear in the headline figure. Second, there is no separately published deadline for council to issue written advice after the pre-lodgement meeting; the guideline works to the overall Module 1 benchmark.
The stage is also conducted directly with council — or the alternative planning proposal authority, where council is not the PPA — and off the Portal. Pre-lodgement advice is not coordinated through the NSW Planning Portal. Lodgement, from Module 2 onwards, is.
Standard or complex — the classification that shapes everything after it
With only two categories left, the classification carries more weight than it used to.
Standard covers proposals such as listing or amending a local heritage item, changing a land use zone consistently with the LEP objectives for that zone, altering a principal development standard, adding permissible uses under Schedule 1, classifying or reclassifying public land, giving effect to a strategic plan consistently with its priorities, a broad-base affordable housing contribution scheme, and housekeeping amendments.
Complex covers a change to the land use zone or principal development standards that would result in a significant increase in demand for local, regional or state infrastructure requiring funding; a response to a new policy or study where there is a change in circumstance; a proposal inconsistent with a strategic plan, or a change in circumstances that would result in such an inconsistency; creating a new principal LEP for the whole local government area or consolidating LEPs into one; and — the catch-all — any amendment not categorised as standard.
The consequence is a 100 working-day difference from lodgement, before you count the longer scoping stage and the heavier study list. Forming a defensible view on category early is one of the more valuable things a scoping report does.
What council’s scoping advice does — and does not — give you
The guideline is clear that the pre-lodgement process is not a full merit assessment. Proponents and councils are directed to “consider” the advice in preparing a planning proposal.
Read that as it is written. Scoping advice is a well-informed early signal about scope, category and studies. It is not a commitment, it is not an approval in miniature, and no program should be built on the assumption that a constructive scoping meeting converts to a supportive Gateway determination. What it does give you is the ability to make an informed decision to continue, change the proposal, or stop — which is the decision that saves the most money.
Which proposals does the new guideline apply to?
The cut-off is lodgement on the NSW Planning Portal, not preparation.
Planning proposals lodged on the Portal before 1 July 2026 continue to be assessed against the Ministerial Direction that applied when they were lodged. A proposal drafted but not lodged before that date needs to be checked against the updated requirements — including the new category definitions and the single consolidated section 9.1 direction.
If you have a proposal that has been sitting at 90 per cent complete since the first half of the year, that check is the first thing to do.
What this means if you are thinking about a rezoning
The system is asking you to spend more effort earlier, and it offers something in return: a written view from council before you commit to the study budget.
Three practical steps:
- Establish strategic merit before design. If the proposal does not give effect to an endorsed strategic plan, that is the problem to solve first, and no amount of technical work solves it.
- Form your own view on category. Standard or complex changes your program, your budget and your study list. Do not wait to be told.
- Use the scoping meeting to narrow the study list, not just to confirm it. The most useful outcome is often a study that council agrees is not required.
Rezoning is the longest and least forgiving pathway in the NSW system. The scoping stage is the cheapest place in it to be wrong.
Common questions
Is a scoping report required for a planning proposal in NSW?
No. The LEP Making Guideline describes scoping as “not a legislative requirement” and not a recognised step on the NSW Planning Portal. It is recommended for complex planning proposals and may be beneficial for standard ones.
How long is the scoping stage?
The benchmark is 50 working days for a standard proposal and 60 for a complex proposal. This sits outside the 320/420 working-day benchmark, which runs from Modules 2 to 5.
What are the planning proposal categories now?
Two: standard and complex. The former basic and principal categories were removed, with principal LEPs absorbed into complex.
Did the timeframes change for simple amendments?
Effectively, yes. Housekeeping amendments and heritage listings were previously basic proposals with a 220 working-day benchmark. With the basic category removed they are now standard, at 320 working days.
Does the new guideline apply to my proposal?
It applies to proposals not yet lodged on the NSW Planning Portal as at 1 July 2026. Proposals lodged before that date continue to be assessed against the Ministerial Direction that applied at lodgement.
If you are weighing up a rezoning and want a view on strategic merit, category and the likely study list before you commit, get in touch — or read more about how we approach planning proposals and rezoning.
Sources: NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Local Environmental Plan Making Guideline (2026) and Module 1 — Scoping; DPHI, Planning system updates: guidance improvements fact sheet, 1 July 2026; and the superseded Local Environmental Plan Making Guideline (December 2021) for the former basic category benchmark. Written 6 August 2026 — planning guidance changes, so confirm the current position before relying on any figure here.
Dr George Greiss is the principal of Greiss Planning, a NSW town planning consultancy. This article is general information about the NSW planning system and is not site-specific planning advice.