Changes to improve site contamination assessment approved

During June and July this year, the State Planning Commission sought feedback on proposed changes to Practice Direction 14 (Site Contamination Assessment).

Thank you to all those who provided feedback, which contributed to the final changes.

The consulted changes proposed to:

• reduce the 7-tier land use sensitivity hierarchy (LUSH) to 4 tiers, so that lower risk changes of use will not require site contamination investigations
• amend land use terminology in the hierarchy to be consistent with the definitions and terms in the Planning and Design Code, avoiding confusion and ambiguity
• provide additional guidance around the use of reserved matters for site contamination investigations
• add additional exemptions for the following lower risk scenarios:
  • a change from tourist accommodation to a dwelling when using an existing building
  • development of vacant land that is covered by native vegetation
  • dwelling applications where the associated land division has already been subject to site contamination investigations (with a condition requiring a statement of site suitability to be issued prior to construction).

Following consideration of the feedback received, the following key changes were made and approved:

• Remove the exemption for dwelling applications where the associated land division has already been subject to site contamination investigations. Instead of the practice direction regulating this matter, the Commission encourages a pragmatic approach to considering site contamination assessment, on a case-by-case basis, by the relevant authority and Environment Protection Authority.
• Relocate ‘warehouse’, ‘store’ and ‘service trade premises’ from item 2 to item 4 of the LUSH, given these uses are more aligned with industry, preventing changes of use within tier 2 (e.g. warehouse to tourist accommodation should be considered a ‘more sensitive use’).
• Add ‘distillery’ and ‘winery’ to item 4 of the LUSH.

The above changes to Practice Direction 14 were approved by the Commission and then gazetted on 30 October 2025.

View the updated Practice Direction 14

The Commission will evaluate the effectiveness of changes to Practice Direction 14 before proceeding with the Site Contamination Development Assessment Scheme Code Amendment,  which has been placed on hold for two years.