Multi dwelling housing in Campbelltown: R3 and DCP townhouse rules

Multi dwelling housing (townhouses and villas) in Campbelltown’s established suburbs is permitted with consent in Zone R3 Medium Density Residential under Campbelltown Local Environmental Plan 2015, and the detailed design rules sit in Volume 1 of the Campbelltown (Sustainable City) Development Control Plan 2015. The LEP fixes the numbers that matter most for yield: a default floor space ratio of 0.75:1 for multi dwelling housing in R3 where no FSR is mapped, and a two storey cap under clause 4.3A. The DCP then sets the private open space, landscaping, car parking and solar access requirements that decide whether a scheme of a given size will actually fit on the site.

Who this is for: developers and builder-developers assessing R3 land in Campbelltown for a townhouse or villa DA, who want to know which LEP and DCP controls fix the yield before they pay for concept drawings.

Where is multi dwelling housing permitted in Campbelltown?

The land use table for Zone R3 Medium Density Residential in Campbelltown LEP 2015 lists multi dwelling housing as permitted with consent, alongside attached dwellings, dual occupancies, semi-detached dwellings, dwelling houses and residential flat buildings. In Zone R2 Low Density Residential the position is different: multi dwelling housing is not a permitted use under the LEP itself, which is why most townhouse sites in the LGA sit on the R3 pockets around Campbelltown, Leumeah, Minto, Ingleburn and Macquarie Fields rather than on ordinary suburban streets.

The exception is the State overlay. Chapter 6 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 defines a low and mid rise housing area as land within 800 metres walking distance of a nominated station or town centre, and section 170 of that chapter permits multi dwelling housing and attached dwellings with consent in Zone R2 inside those areas. In Campbelltown that captures land around Glenfield, Macquarie Fields, Ingleburn, Minto, Leumeah, Campbelltown and Macarthur stations. Section 164 excludes bush fire prone land, heritage items and mapped exclusion areas, so check the Low and Mid Rise Housing Exclusion Map before assuming an R2 site near the line qualifies.

The common mistake is to see R3 on a zoning map and assume the whole lot is available. Campbelltown has split-zoned lots along creek corridors and clause 5.3 (development near zone boundaries) gives only limited flexibility, so confirm the zone lot by lot before you value the land.

What density does Campbelltown LEP 2015 allow?

Clause 4.4 of Campbelltown LEP 2015 controls floor space ratio. Where the Floor Space Ratio Map shows a figure for the land, that figure applies. Where it does not, subclause (2A) supplies a default by use and zone: 0.55:1 for dwelling houses in R2, R3 and R5, 0.45:1 for dual occupancies in those zones, 0.75:1 for multi dwelling housing in Zone R3 and 0.75:1 for attached dwellings in R3. Clause 4.5 defines FSR as the ratio of gross floor area to site area, measured the way the Standard Instrument defines gross floor area, not the way a marketing floor plan does.

Height works in two layers. Clause 4.3 applies the Height of Buildings Map, and clause 4.3A adds a storey limit: an attached dwelling, a dual occupancy, a dwelling house, a dwelling forming part of multi dwelling housing and a semi-detached dwelling must not be higher than two storeys. That rules out three storey townhouse products, so yield is driven by footprint and open space rather than by stacking.

Clause 4.1C sets minimum qualifying site areas for some residential types (700 square metres for a semi-detached dwelling and 1,000 square metres for attached dwellings in R2, 1,200 square metres for residential flat buildings in R4), but the table to that clause does not list multi dwelling housing. In practice the site area for a townhouse scheme in R3 is governed by the DCP setbacks, the FSR and the open space and parking requirements. A clause 4.6 request to vary FSR needs a written justification that meets the tests in the clause; it is not a form to be filled in.

What does the Sustainable City DCP 2015 require for townhouses?

Campbelltown (Sustainable City) DCP 2015 is published in three volumes. Volume 1 applies to all types of development across the LGA, and its Part 3 (Low and Medium Density Residential Development) carries the controls for multi dwelling housing and attached dwellings in R3. Part 2 (Requirements Applying to All Types of Development) adds the site analysis, landscaping, cut and fill, flooding and water cycle controls that apply to every DA. The council page lists the current amendment (Amendment 26 commenced 6 February 2026) and the PDF for each part.

Part 3 itself notes that the numerical standards for FSR, height, qualifying site area and minimum subdivision come from the LEP. What the DCP fixes is the site planning: where the buildings sit, how much of the lot stays soft, where the cars go and how much sun each yard gets.

How much private open space and landscaping does each dwelling need?

Section 3.4.4 of Volume 1 sets the solar access test for all residential development in R2, R3, R4 and R5: living areas should generally face north, and a fixed 20 square metre area of the required private open space must receive three hours of continuous direct sun on 21 June measured at ground level. The same section asks for the impact on neighbouring yards, living areas and solar collectors to be considered, so 21 June shadow diagrams at 9 am, noon and 3 pm belong in every townhouse DA.

The private open space quantum is set by dwelling type in Part 3. For a dwelling house, section 3.6.1.5 asks for a minimum area of 75 square metres behind the front building line, a minimum width of 3 metres, a levelled area of 5 metres by 5 metres and an unfragmented area of 60 square metres, opening directly from a living room. For a semi-detached dwelling, section 3.6.4.4 reduces that to 60 square metres with a 40 square metre unfragmented area. The multi dwelling housing controls in section 3.7 follow the same structure at a smaller quantum; confirm the current figures against the Part 3 PDF before drawing ground floor plans, because Part 3 has been amended several times since 2016.

Landscaping for all development types sits in Part 2 of Volume 1, alongside the weed management, erosion and sediment, cut and fill and water cycle controls. The common mistake is to treat the driveway and visitor spaces as neutral: once a two-way internal driveway, turning bays and visitor spaces are drawn on a 20 metre wide lot, the landscaped area often falls below the desired future character in section 3.3, which calls for soft landscaping along communal driveways and the front boundary.

What parking and access does council expect?

Section 3.4.2 of Volume 1 sets the general car parking and access requirements for residential development, and section 3.7.2 adds the multi dwelling housing rules. Resident parking rates are set by dwelling type; visitor parking is one space for every three units or part of three, unless every dwelling in the scheme has direct frontage to a public street. Visitor spaces cannot sit forward of the primary or secondary street boundary and cannot be stacked. Internal driveways for multi dwellings must allow two-way movement, and electric vehicle charging points must be behind the building line.

The driveway is usually the single biggest consumer of site area on a Campbelltown townhouse site. On a narrow lot, the driveway, the 6 metre garage setback and the side setbacks can leave a building strip that will not fit a two bedroom townhouse. Swept path testing to AS 2890.1 for the tightest turn into the last garage is worth doing at concept stage; council’s engineers will ask for it, and a redesign after lodgement costs more than the test.

Which other controls catch townhouse DAs?

Three Part 2 controls appear in a large share of Campbelltown requests for information on medium density DAs: the section 2.2 site analysis plan (slope, drainage, easements, hazards, neighbouring windows, solar orientation and streetscape); the section 2.8 fill and floor level requirements, which set freeboards above the 100 year ARI flood level of 300 millimetres where the depth of flow is under 300 millimetres and 500 millimetres above deeper flows and any creek or major stormwater line; and the water cycle management controls, which on Campbelltown’s clay soils usually mean on-site detention designed to council’s Engineering Design for Development.

At LEP level, clause 7.1 (earthworks) lists the matters council must consider for cut and fill, clause 7.10 (essential services) requires water, electricity, sewer, stormwater, access and telecommunications to be available or arranged, and clause 7.13 (design excellence) applies to R3 and R4 land. Sites in the Scenic Hills or on mapped environmentally constrained land pick up clauses 7.6, 7.7 and 7.8 as well.

How to run a Campbelltown townhouse feasibility, in order

1. Confirm the zone and any map overlays (lot size, height, FSR, flood, biodiversity, heritage) on the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer and on a section 10.7 certificate.
2. Check whether the site is inside an 800 metre station catchment under Chapter 6 of the Housing SEPP and whether the exclusion map removes it; this changes both permissibility on R2 land and the non-refusal standards.
3. Apply clause 4.4(2A) (0.75:1) and clause 4.3A (two storeys) to get the gross floor area envelope, then subtract the gross floor area of garages, which count.
4. Draw the driveway, visitor spaces and the 6 metre garage setback first, then test how many two storey footprints fit between the side setbacks with a north facing yard each.
5. Run 21 June shadow diagrams against the section 3.4.4 test for every yard and for the neighbours’ yards.
6. Check the Part 2 site analysis, flood floor level and stormwater requirements, and clause 7.10 servicing (sewer connection point, Endeavour Energy supply).
7. Book a pre-lodgement meeting for anything above six units or with a clause 4.6 variation, then prepare the Statement of Environmental Effects against Part 3 control by control.

Definitions

Multi dwelling housing

Three or more dwellings on one lot, each with access at ground level, that are not a residential flat building. Townhouses and villas are the usual forms.

Floor space ratio (FSR)

The ratio of the gross floor area of all buildings on a site to the site area, defined in clause 4.5 of Campbelltown LEP 2015.

Non-discretionary development standard

A standard set by a State policy that, if complied with, prevents a council refusing a DA on that ground or imposing a more onerous standard. Section 4.15(3) of the EP&A Act does not prevent consent where the standard is not met.

Low and mid rise housing area

Land within 800 metres walking distance of a station or town centre listed under Chapter 6 of the Housing SEPP, excluding mapped exclusion areas.

Private open space

The outdoor area allocated to a single dwelling for the use of its occupants, measured in the DCP by area, minimum width, levelled area and unfragmented area.

Clause 4.6 request

A written request under clause 4.6 of the LEP to vary a development standard such as FSR, demonstrating that compliance is unreasonable or unnecessary and that there are sufficient environmental planning grounds.

URBA prepares Statements of Environmental Effects and feasibility reviews for townhouse and villa DAs across Campbelltown and the Macarthur region, testing each scheme against clause 4.4, clause 4.3A and Part 3 of the Sustainable City DCP before the drawings are finalised. See our townhouse and multi dwelling planning service and our Campbelltown town planning page, or request a fee proposal for a specific site.