When a draft major plan amendment has interim effect, its proposed provisions apply to current and future development applications alongside the current provisions of the Territory Plan. Where a provision of the draft major plan amendment that has interim effect and a provision of the current Territory Plan are inconsistent with each other, the more onerous of the two provisions apply. This is because the Planning Act 2023 requires the Territory Planning Authority to not do or approve anything that is inconsistent with the provisions of the draft major plan amendment that has interim effect or the provisions of the current Territory Plan.

Example: a draft major plan amendment with interim effect proposes to increase the maximum building height of a site to 12.5 metres.

Assuming the current Territory Plan states the maximum building height for the site is 9.5 metres, the provisions of the draft major plan amendment and the current provisions of the Territory Plan are inconsistent with each other. Therefore, to be consistent with the provisions of both the draft major plan amendment and the current Territory Plan, a development application may only propose a building to a maximum height of 9.5 metres.

Alternatively, assuming there is no maximum building height provisions for the site in the current Territory Plan, the provisions of the draft major plan amendment would not conflict with the current Territory Plan. Therefore, a development application could be lodged that proposes a building up to a maximum height of 12.5 metres.

If a draft major plan amendment is not given interim effect or the period of interim effect has ended, the proposed provisions of the draft major plan amendment do not apply to current and future development applications. Therefore, only the existing provisions of the current Territory Plan would apply to current and future development applications.

Interim effect can be given to the whole or part of a draft major plan amendment and may begin when the draft major plan amendment is:

  • released for public comment
  • referred to the minister for determination.

The relevant draft major plan amendment document and website information will specify if the draft major plan amendment has interim effect or not.