Reference Data · New South Wales
Hawkesbury DCP: the dwelling controls, as published.
4 controls for low-density residential — dwelling houses, taken from Hawkesbury Development Control Plan 2023 — Part D: Specific Development, Chapter 1 Residential Development. As at 2026-08-29.
NSW has no statewide dwelling setback or site-coverage standard. The LEP sets zone, height and FSR; the numbers that shape a build sit in each council's DCP — here, the 4 that Hawkesbury publishes numerically. Anything its DCP assesses on merit rather than a fixed number is absent from this table: not a zero, and not a permission.
Hawkesbury, City of — published dwelling controls
| Control | Published value | Qualifier |
|---|---|---|
| Front setback | 7.5 m | Sites fronting a local road: 7.5 m from the front boundary, or the established prevailing pattern where there is prior development. Sites fronting a Main, Arterial or Collector road: 10 m (the 10 m setback commences after any road widening). |
| Secondary street setback | 2 m | — |
| Landscaped area | 30% | deep-soil requirement applies |
| Private open space | 20% of site area | — |
Source: Hawkesbury Development Control Plan 2023 — Part D: Specific Development, Chapter 1 Residential Development. Clauses: Part D Ch.1 §1.3 Height (Building Height Plane, Table 1), §1.4 Setbacks, §1.6 Landscaped Areas, §1.7 Private Open Space. Open the source DCP.
Scope: R2 dwelling houses. These are the controls for R2, Hawkesbury’s low-density residential zone. Do not apply these figures to a dual occupancy, duplex, secondary dwelling or multi-dwelling housing development — those are assessed under different standards, which Feasibly has not codified.
What qualifies these Hawkesbury controls?
- Current DCP = Hawkesbury DCP 2023 (adopted 22 Nov 2022, commenced Jan 2023). The 2023 DCP revoked/replaced only certain Part C chapters of the 2002 DCP; Part D 'Specific Development' Chapter 1 Residential Development is retained and is the operative dwelling-house control. Origin site was ban-blocking (520) so the PDF was read via the council's own asset URL through the Wayback Machine (snapshot 2025-03-28).
- No site-coverage control exists: the Residential Development chapter (sections 1.1 Introduction … 1.20 Rural Dual Occupancies) has Height, Setbacks, Landscaped Areas and Private Open Space but NO site-coverage / FSR section. All site_coverage fields left null.
- Side and rear boundaries are governed by a Building Height Plane (envelope), not a fixed setback: single-dwelling maxima above natural ground are 1.8 m at the property boundary, 7 m at ceiling height, 10 m at ridgeline (§1.3 Table 1). Building to the side and back boundary within this plane is permitted where continuous boundary-wall length ≤ 10 m. Hence side_setback_m and rear_setback_m are null.
- side_merit_below_frontage_m = 14 reflects §1.3(f): single dwellings on lots with a frontage < 14 m may seek exemption from the Building Height Plane (the envelope that governs side/back boundary building) on merit.
- Rear (internal/battle-axe lots only): dwelling to be set back 6 m from the rear boundary of the property in front (§1.4(c)). No standard rear-yard setback is stated for a normal lot (rear governed by the Building Height Plane).
- Landscaped 30% = pervious soft landscaped area of total site; may include soft-landscaped parts of private and common open space (§1.6(a)); recorded as landscaped_deep_soil=true because it is explicitly 'pervious'/permeable.
- Private open space is percentage-based, not a fixed sqm (pos_min_sqm=null): min 20% of site area at ground level, must contain a 5 m × 6 m rectangle per dwelling on slope < 1:10, no dimension < 4 m, exclusive of clothes-drying/driveway/parking/utility (§1.7(b)); above-ground balcony/rooftop POS ≥ 10 sqm, min dimension 2 m, not counted toward the total (§1.7(d)).
- Rear-lane development (Windsor/Richmond only, §1.5): buildings fronting a rear lane set back min 5.5 m from the rear-lane boundary, laneway 4.5 m wide — lane-specific, not the standard case.
Wondering how this compares with asking an AI to read the scheme? We wrote that up here.
How reliable is this Hawkesbury DCP data?
These values were machine-extracted from the source DCP and have not been independently re-checked. Treat them as screening grade: good enough to compare councils and to know which questions to ask, not a substitute for reading the clause before you rely on it. This is a different and lower tier of confidence than our Victorian zone schedules, which are read and verified from the source planning scheme by a person. We do not present the two as equivalent.
A council's DCP can be amended at any time and this page reflects the document as at 2026-08-29. Where a control is absent above, the DCP either sets no number or assesses that parameter on merit.
This information is provided for research and preliminary screening only. It does not constitute professional planning, legal or architectural advice. Always verify with Hawkesbury, City of before making decisions.
Hawkesbury planning controls — common questions
Do these Hawkesbury controls apply to a duplex or dual occupancy?
No. The figures on this page are Hawkesbury’s dwelling-house controls. A dual occupancy, duplex, secondary dwelling or multi-dwelling housing development is assessed under different standards — Feasibly has not codified those, so do not apply the numbers above to one.
Which zone do these Hawkesbury controls apply to?
R2 Low Density Residential — Hawkesbury’s low-density residential zone. Confirmed against the zones the Hawkesbury LEP actually contains. This page presents the low-density residential case; some DCP sections also cover other residential zones, and the source above names the zones it applies to.
What planning controls does Hawkesbury, City of publish for dwellings?
Hawkesbury, City of publishes 4 dwelling controls in Hawkesbury Development Control Plan 2023 — Part D: Specific Development, Chapter 1 Residential Development: front setback, secondary street setback, landscaped area, private open space. Each value and its clause reference is listed on this page, as at 2026-08-29.
Does NSW have a statewide dwelling setback standard?
No. The Local Environmental Plan sets zone, building height and floor space ratio, but the numbers that shape a dwelling — setbacks, site coverage, landscaped area and private open space — sit in each council’s Development Control Plan. That is why these figures are published per council rather than per state.
How reliable are these Hawkesbury figures?
They are machine-extracted from Hawkesbury Development Control Plan 2023 — Part D: Specific Development, Chapter 1 Residential Development and have not been independently re-checked, so treat them as screening grade — good enough to compare councils and to know which questions to ask, not a substitute for reading the clause. This is a lower confidence tier than our Victorian schedules, which a person reads and verifies from the source scheme.
Do these controls apply to every property in Hawkesbury?
No. These are the council-wide published figures for low-density residential — dwelling houses. The zone, any overlays and the consent triggers that actually apply depend on the individual parcel, and a control absent from this page means the DCP either sets no number or assesses that parameter on merit — not that the requirement is zero.
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