Hazards

Chapter 3 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 sets out a systematic approach for assessing development proposals involving potentially hazardous or offensive industries or storage. The aim is to ensure that proposals can only proceed if they are appropriately located and able to demonstrate they can be designed, built and operated without posing significant offsite risk when suitable mitigation measures are applied.

The SEPP also includes definitions of ‘hazardous’ and ‘offensive’. These definitions aim to overcome the limitations of previous definitions of hazardous and offensive development (which were based on the particular type of industry).  

The SEPP was previously known as State Environmental Planning Policy No 33 – Hazardous and Offensive development.

The Hazardous and Offensive Development Application Guidelines: Applying SEPP 33 provides guidance for consent authorities, industry, consultants and government agencies when assessing development applications subject to the policy. The guidelines outline how to identify developments that must be assessed under the SEPP and explain the associated assessment requirements. They apply to both hazardous and offensive development, including potentially hazardous industry and potentially offensive industry.

Sections 3.7 and 3.10 of the SEPP require a consent authority to consider (among other things) current circulars or guidelines published by the Department relating to hazardous or offensive development.

The Department has established an integrated assessment process for development proposals that are potentially hazardous. This process assesses risk during the pre-determination stage and continues to manage and monitor that risk after approval through the imposition of appropriate conditions of consent.

Pre-determination process to assess risk:

• preparing a risk-screening in accordance with Applying SEPP 33 to determine whether a proposal is potentially hazardous
• performing a preliminary hazard analysis for potentially hazardous development to support the development application by demonstrating that risk levels do not preclude approval.

Post-approval process to manage risk:

• conducting a hazard and operability study, fire safety study and updating the hazard analysis done during the design phase
• carrying out a safety study for the construction and commissioning phases, particularly when the project interacts with existing operations
• implementing a safety management system and emergency plan during ongoing operations
• conducting regular independent hazard audits to verify the integrity of the safety systems and that the facility is being operated in line with its hazards-related conditions of consent.

It should be noted that if the preliminary hazard analysis demonstrates that risk associated with the proposal exceeds the nominated acceptability criteria, the development is classified as ‘hazardous industry’, which would not be permissible within most industrial zones in NSW.

To support the development of safer industrial facilities and protect the community, we:

• review area risk assessment studies around high-risk industrial areas
• develop supporting land use safety planning policies and safety-based locational guidelines
• assess safety and hazard studies related to proposals for new developments associated with major industrial and infrastructure projects, and conditions of consent for state significant developments
• provide technical advice to support local councils for issues around hazardous industry and land use safety matters
• promote compliance with safety-related development consent conditions.

Land use safety studies

Botany Industrial Park, Port Botany, Kurnell and Port Kembla are some of the high-risk industrial areas in NSW. Land Use Safety Studies were undertaken for the following areas:

• Kurnell Peninsula Land Use Safety Study (2007) (PDF, 784 KB). Note, the Kurnell site has been converted to a fuel depot, but the key findings remain relevant.
• Port Kembla Land Use Safety Study – Overview Report (PDF, 1.2 MB)
• Parliament of New South Wales – Port Kembla Land Use Safety Study – Overview Report (PDF, 9.5 MB)
  • Note: Port Botany has undergone significant changes over the years, but the risk profile established in this study remains as the worst-case scenario. The recommendations in the study remain relevant. For the latest risk profile for the area, recent development applications within Port Botany should be considered.

The Department conducted the original Botany/Randwick land use safety in 1985 and updated the study in 2001 to reflect changes in the area since the original study. From the studies, it is noted that the major risk contributor in this area was from Botany Industrial Park (BIP) which is a 73-hectare industrial complex located at Banksmeadow in south-east Sydney. Recently, two major chemical facilities ceased their operations resulting in significant changes in the area risk profile.  

The Department continues to work closely with Botany Industrial Park and will update accordingly. The risk profile, as of 2018, can be found in the:

• Quantitative Risk Assessment 2018: Botany Industrial Park Report (PDF, 9.5 MB)
• Results of Botany Industrial Park Risk Assessment – Frequently asked questions (PDF, 53 KB)