Delivering cool materials through planning controls
Cooler Places

- Advertising and signage
- Alpine resorts
- Building systems circulars
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- Apartment Design Guide
- Better apartments
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- Boarding houses and co‑living housing
- Build-to-rent housing
- Caravan parks, manufactured home estates and moveable dwellings
- Group homes
- In-fill affordable housing
- Retention of existing affordable housing
- Secondary dwellings
- Seniors housing
- Social and affordable housing
- Supportive accommodation and temporary housing
- Housing Support Program
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- Bayside Council’s housing snapshot
- Frequently asked questions
- Blacktown Council’s housing snapshot
- Blue Mountains Council’s housing snapshot
- Burwood Council’s housing snapshot
- Camden Council’s housing snapshot
- Campbelltown Council’s housing snapshot
- Canada Bay Council’s housing snapshot
- Canterbury-Bankstown Council’s housing snapshot
- Central Coast Council’s housing snapshot
- Cessnock Council’s housing snapshot
- Cumberland Council’s housing snapshot
- Fairfield Council’s housing snapshot
- Georges River Council’s housing snapshot
- Hawkesbury Council’s housing snapshot
- Hornsby Council’s housing snapshot
- How we developed the targets
- Hunters Hill Council’s housing snapshot
- Inner West Council’s housing snapshot
- Kiama Council’s housing snapshot
- Ku-ring-gai Council’s housing snapshot
- Lake Macquarie Council’s housing snapshot
- Lane Cove Council’s housing snapshot
- Liverpool Council’s housing snapshot
- Maitland Council’s housing snapshot
- Mosman Council’s housing snapshot
- Newcastle Council’s housing snapshot
- North Sydney Council’s housing snapshot
- Northern Beaches Council’s housing snapshot
- Parramatta Council’s housing snapshot
- Penrith Council’s housing snapshot
- Port Stephens Council’s housing snapshot
- Randwick Council’s housing snapshot
- Ryde Council’s housing snapshot
- Shellharbour Council’s housing snapshot
- Shoalhaven Council’s housing snapshot
- Strathfield Council’s housing snapshot
- Sutherland Council’s housing snapshot
- Sydney Council’s housing snapshot
- The Hills Council’s housing snapshot
- Waverley Council’s housing snapshot
- Willoughby Council’s housing snapshot
- Wollondilly Council’s housing snapshot
- Wollongong Council’s housing snapshot
- Woollahra Council’s housing snapshot
- Inland Code
- Social housing
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- Ten simple tips for more inclusive playspaces
- A sensory explosion
- Bowraville Children’s Playspace
- Civic Park Playspace, Warragamba
- Cook Reserve Playspace
- Livvi’s Place, Wagga Wagga
- Livvi’s Place, Warragamba
- Lot Stafford Playspace
- Masterplanned communities
- Melaleuca Village Lake Playspace
- Muston Park Playspace
- St Peters Fences Playspace
- Town Beach Playspace
- Tumbalong Park Playspace
- Waitara Park Playspace
- Wild Play Garden
- Everyone Can Play grant
- Our principles
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- NSW regional outdoor survey
- Synthetic turf study
- The Greater Sydney Outdoors Study
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- Concurrence and referral reforms
- Employment land strategies
- Employment lands
- Employment zones reform
- Estimated development cost
- NSW Public Spaces Legacy Program
- Planning Reform Action Plan
- Planning pathways for cemeteries
- Priority Assessment Program
- State significant development warehouses and data centres
Cool materials are an emerging space for local controls. As with water, the use of cool materials is closely related to the efficiency standards set out by BASIX for residential buildings.
Although new technologies are rapidly emerging in this area, simple and cost-effective solutions are already available for cool roofing, walls and pavements.
For more information, read Take action with cool materials.
Examples
- The Mamre Road Precinct Development Control Plan 2021 was developed by the NSW Government for industrial development near Mamre Road within the Penrith local government area. To reduce the urban heat island effect, the plan specifies that light coloured materials be used for roofs. The plan also requires that carparks use finishes that reduce heat absorption and specifies that trees must be planted to shade carpark pavements.
- The Cumberland Development Control Plan (Part D) 2021 has a section focussed on urban heat management. Low-density residential development must use roofing materials that are high albedo or offer high solar reflectivity. Paving must be light in colour and permeable where possible. For other residential development, the controls allow flexibility: a range of solutions can be adopted to satisfy the control, including integrating cool materials for roofs, walls or paving, shading hard surfaces, incorporating vegetation and trees or using water-sensitive urban design.
- The Parramatta Development Control Plan (Part 5) 2023 has a section focused on urban cooling. It applies to all new residential flat building with 3 or more storeys and non-residential development as defined in the development control plan. Roofs must adhere to the minimum solar reflectivity index. Additionally, facades with reflective surfaces must demonstrate the minimum percentages of shading calculated on 21 December through architectural features and green cover.
- The Urban Heat Planning Toolkit prepared by Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils includes suggested provisions and controls focussed on cool materials.