Council had hoped to have the new LEP finalised within the life of the current Council (September 08), however delays in obtaining data, the new SEPP (State Environment Planning Policies) and changes to NSW planning have slowed down the process.

The State Government had given the deadline of March '08 for the LEP review, which is required to be done every five years. The former Tallaganda Shire Council had not completed a review since 1991.

The original budget for the process was $570,00 of which $170,000 was a State Government Grant. With another 12 months added to the schedule, and the current monies running out in September '08, there is no figure provided in the 'financial implications' section of the report to Council, but the cost is likely to be over $150,000.

Last month Council voted not to spend money to employ consultants to get the job done in time for the September deadline.

The report to Council does set out changes since the last report in December such as, the rural lot and holding analysis for the 'Rural, Rural Residential and Environmental Areas Discussion Paper' has been completed, delays in obtaining Queanbeyan City Council development approval data required for the rural residential supply and demand analysis, and that the rural land state environmental planning policy (SEPP) which the Director General of Planning had indicated would come into effect before the end of 2007 has not yet been released. The SEPP will have a significant impact on the rural planning provisions in the new LEP. As previously reported, the SEPP is expected to abolish concessional lots, but will allow councils the option of "either retaining existing minimum lot sizes or seeking to vary minimum lot sizes based on a set of principles in the SEPP".

Council are also still waiting on other necessary information for the LEP including biodiversity data, the developer funded Land Use Strategy and Structure Plan for Bungendore, an amended LEP template, and the Sydney Canberra Corridor Regional Strategy.