Draft changes to site contamination assessment

The State Planning Commission is proposing changes to Practice Direction 14 (Site Contamination Assessment).

The Site Contamination Assessment Scheme has been operating in South Australia since March 2021. The Commission has identified the need to review and amend the Scheme to reduce the regulatory burden and cost for lower risk scenarios where site contamination investigations are proving to be unwarranted.

Draft changes are proposed to:

• reduce the 7-tier land use sensitivity hierarchy to 4 tiers, so that lower risk changes of use will not require site contamination investigations
• amend land use terminology in the hierarchy to be consistent with the definitions and terms in the Planning and design Code, avoiding confusion and ambiguity
• provide additional guidance around the use of reserved matters for site contamination investigations
• add additional exemptions for the following lower risk scenarios:
  • a change from tourist accommodation to a dwelling when using an existing building
  • development of vacant land that is covered by native vegetation
  • dwelling applications where the associated land division has already been subject to site contamination investigations.

Feedback on the proposed changes is open until 1 July 2025. To view the draft changes and provide your feedback, visit the other consultations webpage.