Local Strategic Planning Statement and Local Housing Strategy

Advancing our region - Toward 50,000 - Local Strategic Planning Statement

The updated Armidale Regional Local Strategic Planning Statement (LSPS) was adopted at the April 2024 Council Meeting.

The LSPS:

  • Provides a 20 year land use vision for the Armidale Regional Council Local Government Area;
  • Directs where further investigations are to be undertaken to identify how future growth and change will be managed;
  • Identifies where further strategic land use planning is required; and
  • Explains how the planning priorities and related actions will be implemented.

Local Housing Strategy

The Armidale Regional Local Housing Strategy (LHS)  was adopted at the August 2024 Council Meeting.

The Local Housing Strategy (LHS)  (PDF 12.4MB) is a local planning strategy that will guide the delivery of housing in the Armidale Region over the next 20 years.

The strategy builds on the longer-term land use planning vision established in the Local Strategic Planning Statement – Advancing our region: Toward 50,000 (LSPS) and has been developed through a review of development, housing stock, housing trends, population trends and planning provisions.

The LSPS vision sees a growth in the regional population by 10,000 by 2043, with most of this growth being in Armidale then Guyra with the villages and rural areas absorbing the balance. The LSPS is proactive in its vision, aiming to provide a diversity in housing, in unconstrained, well-located areas, supported by infrastructure, services and access to open space whilst being sustainable and maintaining the regions natural assets, heritage and character.

The objectives of the strategy are to implement the relevant actions of the LSPS and the New England North-West Regional Plan 2041:

  • respond to current housing challenges across the region
  • review planning controls related to zoning, minimum lot size and permissible land uses in residential zones to ensure the sustainable and efficient use of land
  • provide increased opportunities for housing diversity through additional provisions within the Local Environmental Plan
  • manage and align the delivery of infrastructure to ensure there is adequate available supply of land for housing
  • meet the needs of the community in a way that best fits with our existing character and heritage whilst planning for the future character of the region.

The LHS will give effect to the relevant actions of the LSPS and provide the strategic merit and direction for future amendments to the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan. The strategy has been prepared in accordance with the Department of Planning, Housing and Industry's Local Housing Strategy Guideline and template and has been developed based on the following: