C1 National Parks and Nature Reserves and C2 Environmental Conservation zoning in NSW

Conservation zones in the NSW Standard Instrument LEP. Checked 26 September 2026.

C1 National Parks and Nature Reserves and C2 Environmental Conservation are the two conservation zones with the least room for development. C1 covers land reserved or acquired under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, or identified for reservation. The Standard Instrument permits uses authorised under that Act without consent, lists Nil for uses with consent, and prohibits any development not specified in item 2 or 3. Development in a national park is governed by the Act and its plans of management, not by the LEP.

C2 Environmental Conservation protects land of high ecological, scientific, cultural or aesthetic values outside the reserve system. Its Standard Instrument entry mandates only oyster aquaculture with consent and environmental protection works, and then prohibits a long list expressly: business premises, hotel or motel accommodation, industries, local distribution premises, multi dwelling housing, pond-based and tank-based aquaculture, recreation facilities (major), residential flat buildings, restricted premises, retail premises, seniors housing, service stations, warehouse or distribution centres, and any other development not specified in item 2 or 3. Dwelling houses are not mandated and are prohibited unless the council's LEP adds them.

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What the Standard Instrument says

The objectives and uses every council LEP must carry for these zones, quoted from the Land Use Table. Blank items are left to the LEP.

Standard Instrument Land Use Table

Zone C1 National Parks and Nature Reserves

Land reserved, acquired or intended for reservation under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Only uses authorised under that Act are permitted.

1 Objectives of zone

To enable the management and appropriate use of land that is reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 or that is acquired under Part 11 of that Act.
To enable uses authorised under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.
To identify land that is to be reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 and to protect the environmental significance of that land.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

No direction for this zone.

2 Permitted without consent

Uses authorised under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974

3 Permitted only with consent

4 Prohibited

Any development not specified in item 2 or 3

Standard Instrument Land Use Table

Zone C2 Environmental Conservation

The strictest conservation zone outside national parks. It protects land of high ecological, scientific, cultural or aesthetic value, and the Standard Instrument prohibits most built development.

1 Objectives of zone

To protect, manage and restore areas of high ecological, scientific, cultural or aesthetic values.
To prevent development that could destroy, damage or otherwise have an adverse effect on those values.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

Environmental protection works

2 Permitted without consent

Left to the council's LEP.

3 Permitted only with consent

Oyster aquaculture

4 Prohibited

Business premises
Hotel or motel accommodation
Industries
Local distribution premises
Multi dwelling housing
Pond-based aquaculture
Recreation facilities (major)
Residential flat buildings
Restricted premises
Retail premises
Seniors housing
Service stations
Tank-based aquaculture
Warehouse or distribution centres
Any other development not specified in item 2 or 3

A council LEP adopts each entry and adds its own objectives, permitted uses and prohibited uses under the Land Use Table directions, so the LEP land use table for the land is the one that applies. Schedule 1 of the LEP, the Housing SEPP and the Codes SEPP can permit development the table does not.

What it means in practice

Where the common questions land, and which instrument decides each of them.

C1: the National Parks and Wildlife Act governs

Nothing in a C1 LEP table permits development with consent. What can happen in a national park or nature reserve is decided under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 by the reserving authority, and land is zoned C1 to recognise that.

C2: dwelling houses

Dwelling houses are not in the Standard Instrument's C2 list, and the residual clause prohibits any use the LEP does not list. Some councils add dwelling houses to C2 with consent, often with a large minimum lot size; many do not. A C2 lot without an LEP entry for dwelling houses cannot have one.

C2: what a council can add

Direction 2 of the Land Use Table lets a council add uses to item 3, so environmental facilities, eco-tourist facilities, bed and breakfast accommodation and roads are common C2 additions. A council cannot remove the Standard Instrument's prohibitions in item 4.

Land clearing and biodiversity

Zoning does not authorise vegetation removal. Clearing on C2 land is regulated by the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, the Local Land Services Act 2013 and the vegetation provisions in Chapter 2 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021, whatever the LEP permits.

Former zone names

Before 1 December 2021 these zones were E1 National Parks and Nature Reserves and E2 Environmental Conservation. They were renamed C1 and C2 so that the E prefix could be reused for the employment zones. Clause 3 of Schedule 1 of the Standard Instrument provides that a reference to the former E1 to E4 environmental zones in an instrument or document is taken to include the corresponding C1 to C4 zone. The zones' content did not change with the rename.

Frequently asked questions

What is C2 Environmental Conservation zoning?

The Standard Instrument's strictest conservation zone outside national parks, formerly E2. Its objectives are to protect, manage and restore land of high ecological, scientific, cultural or aesthetic value and to prevent development that would harm those values. Only oyster aquaculture is mandated with consent, and a long list of uses plus everything else not listed in the LEP is prohibited.

Can I build a house on C2 land?

Only if the council's LEP lists dwelling houses in its C2 land use table. The Standard Instrument does not mandate them and its residual clause prohibits any use the LEP omits. Where an LEP does permit a dwelling in C2, a minimum lot size and site-specific environmental controls usually apply.

Is E2 zoning the same as C2?

Yes. E2 Environmental Conservation was renamed C2 in December 2021, and clause 3 of Schedule 1 of the Standard Instrument treats references to the old E2 as including C2. The new E2 Commercial Centre zone that appeared in 2023 is an unrelated employment zone, which is why the rename happened.

What can be built in a national park (C1)?

Only what is authorised under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. The Standard Instrument's C1 entry permits those uses without consent, lists no use with consent, and prohibits everything else.

Sources

Standard Instrument (Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006, current version for 1 July 2026 to date. Read on the NSW legislation website on 26 September 2026.

Other instruments

State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021, current version for 11 September 2026 to date; State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008, current version for 11 September 2026 to date. Read on 26 September 2026. The translation of the former B and IN zones to the employment zones follows NSW Department of Planning guidance rather than the Standard Instrument text.

Other zones

How to read zoning, height and FSR maps in NSW

Know the zone.
Then read everything that sits over it.

Plynth answers site questions with every control linked to its source: the zone, the LEP land use table, the SEPPs that add to it and the standards on the other maps.

See planning due diligence in Plynth Back to the zoning explainer