As part of the planning reforms for local government undertaken by the NSW State Government, Habitat Planning was tasked with preparing a Development Control Plan for the former Corowa Shire.  A Development Control Plan sets down detailed development controls applicable to different types of development including residential, commercial and industrial.

The approach taken to the Development Control Plan by Habitat Planning was to find the ‘sweet spot’ between the need for some form of control but not at the cost of overregulation.  The development controls were written so that good planning outcomes could be achieved for the townships of Corowa, Mulwala and Howlong. They were expressed simply for ease of understanding and avoided planning jargon and duplication of controls expressed in other planning instruments.

The Development Control Plan has proven to be an effective planning tool for the now Federation Council and adopted as a model by other Councils.