RE1 Public Recreation and RE2 Private Recreation zoning in NSW

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

RE1 Public Recreation and RE2 Private Recreation are the two recreation zones and differ mainly in ownership and in how tightly the Standard Instrument closes them. RE1 covers parks, reserves, sports grounds, foreshores and other public open space. Its objectives are public open space or recreational purposes, a range of recreational settings and activities, and protecting the natural environment for recreation. The Standard Instrument mandates aquaculture, kiosks and recreation areas with consent, requires environmental facilities and environmental protection works to be permitted, and then prohibits any development not specified in item 2 or 3. RE1 is one of the few zones with a closed list.

RE2 covers privately owned recreation land: golf courses, bowling and tennis clubs, private sports grounds and the like. Its objectives match RE1 with private in place of public, its list adds community facilities and recreation facilities (indoor) and (outdoor), and it has no residual prohibition, so the council's LEP can add uses such as registered clubs, function centres or tourist accommodation.

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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 RE1 Public Recreation

Public open space: parks, reserves, sports grounds and foreshores held for public recreation. Anything not listed as permitted is prohibited.

1 Objectives of zone

  1. To enable land to be used for public open space or recreational purposes.
  2. To provide a range of recreational settings and activities and compatible land uses.
  3. To protect and enhance the natural environment for recreational purposes.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

  • Environmental facilities
  • Environmental protection works
  • Roads

2 Permitted without consent

Left to the council's LEP.

3 Permitted only with consent

  • Aquaculture
  • Kiosks
  • Recreation areas

4 Prohibited

  • Any development not specified in item 2 or 3

Standard Instrument Land Use Table

Zone RE2 Private Recreation

Privately owned recreation land such as golf courses, bowling clubs and sports facilities, kept for recreational use.

1 Objectives of zone

  1. To enable land to be used for private open space or recreational purposes.
  2. To provide a range of recreational settings and activities and compatible land uses.
  3. To protect and enhance the natural environment for recreational purposes.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

  • Environmental facilities
  • Environmental protection works
  • Roads

2 Permitted without consent

Left to the council's LEP.

3 Permitted only with consent

  • Aquaculture
  • Community facilities
  • Kiosks
  • Recreation areas
  • Recreation facilities (indoor)
  • Recreation facilities (outdoor)

4 Prohibited

Left to the council's LEP.

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.

RE1: what a council can add

Because RE1's item 4 prohibits everything not in items 2 or 3, a council can widen the zone only by adding uses to those items. Most RE1 LEPs add recreation facilities (outdoor), community facilities, environmental facilities and sometimes cafes as food and drink premises. Public authorities can also rely on the Transport and Infrastructure SEPP for infrastructure on RE1 land.

RE2: golf courses, clubs and redevelopment

RE2 mandates recreation facilities (indoor) and (outdoor), so clubhouses, courts and gyms fit. Housing is not mandated, and turning an RE2 golf course into residential lots needs a rezoning rather than a development application unless the LEP already permits it.

Housing on recreation land

Neither zone mandates any residential use. A dwelling on RE1 land is prohibited by the residual clause unless the LEP adds it; on RE2 land it depends on the LEP table, and most exclude it.

Acquisition

Privately owned land zoned RE1 is often shown on the LEP's Land Reservation Acquisition Map, and clause 5.1 names the council or other authority that can be required to acquire it.

Frequently asked questions

What is RE1 Public Recreation zoning?

The Standard Instrument zone for public open space: parks, reserves, sports grounds and foreshores. Recreation areas, kiosks and aquaculture are mandated with consent, environmental facilities and environmental protection works must be permitted, and any development not listed in items 2 or 3 of the LEP's RE1 table is prohibited.

What is RE2 Private Recreation zoning?

The zone for privately owned recreation land such as golf courses, bowling clubs and private sports facilities. It mandates recreation areas, recreation facilities (indoor) and (outdoor), community facilities, kiosks and aquaculture with consent, and leaves other uses to the council's LEP.

Can I build a house on RE1 or RE2 land?

Not under the Standard Instrument. RE1 prohibits any use not listed in the LEP's table, and no residential use is mandated in either zone. A dwelling would need the council's LEP to list it, which is rare, or a rezoning.

Can a golf course zoned RE2 be redeveloped for housing?

Only after a rezoning to a residential zone, unless the council's LEP already permits a residential use in RE2. The RE2 objectives and mandated uses are recreational, and a planning proposal is the usual path.

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.

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