SP1, SP3, SP4 and SP5 special purpose zoning in NSW

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

The Standard Instrument has five special purpose zones. SP2 Infrastructure has its own page; the other four are grouped here because each is narrow and their Standard Instrument entries are short. SP1 Special Activities works like SP2: it permits with consent the purpose shown on the Land Zoning Map, plus aquaculture, and its objectives cover special uses and sites with special natural characteristics not provided for in other zones. Councils use SP1 for things like universities, ports, showgrounds, defence land and racecourses.

SP3 Tourist mandates tourist and visitor accommodation, food and drink premises and aquaculture with consent. SP4 Enterprise, added in 2021, mandates only identification signs and take away food and drink premises, with the single objective of supporting enterprise and productivity, so the council's LEP defines it. SP5 Metropolitan Centre may be used only in the City of Sydney and North Sydney local government areas; its objectives speak of Sydney's global status and it mandates commercial premises, entertainment facilities, tourist accommodation, educational establishments and transport facilities with consent.

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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 SP1 Special Activities

A zone for a special use that no other zone provides for. The permitted use is whatever purpose is written on the Land Zoning Map for that land.

1 Objectives of zone

  1. To provide for special land uses that are not provided for in other zones.
  2. To provide for sites with special natural characteristics that are not provided for in other zones.
  3. To facilitate development that is in keeping with the special characteristics of the site or its existing or intended special use, and that minimises any adverse impacts on surrounding land.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

No direction for this zone.

2 Permitted without consent

Left to the council's LEP.

3 Permitted only with consent

  • Aquaculture
  • The purpose shown on the Land Zoning Map, including any development that is ordinarily incidental or ancillary to development for that purpose

4 Prohibited

Left to the council's LEP.

Standard Instrument Land Use Table

Zone SP3 Tourist

Land for tourist-oriented development: tourist and visitor accommodation, food and drink premises and related uses.

1 Objectives of zone

  1. To provide for a variety of tourist-oriented development and related uses.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

  • Roads

2 Permitted without consent

Left to the council's LEP.

3 Permitted only with consent

  • Aquaculture
  • Food and drink premises
  • Tourist and visitor accommodation

4 Prohibited

Left to the council's LEP.

Standard Instrument Land Use Table

Zone SP4 Enterprise

A flexible enterprise zone introduced with the 2021 employment zone reforms. The Standard Instrument mandates very little, so the council's LEP defines what it is for.

1 Objectives of zone

  1. To provide for development and land uses that support enterprise and productivity.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

  • Roads

2 Permitted without consent

Left to the council's LEP.

3 Permitted only with consent

  • Building identification signs
  • Business identification signs
  • Take away food and drink premises

4 Prohibited

Left to the council's LEP.

Standard Instrument Land Use Table

Zone SP5 Metropolitan Centre

Sydney's global city centre. The Standard Instrument allows this zone only in the City of Sydney and North Sydney local government areas.

1 Objectives of zone

  1. To recognise and provide for the pre-eminent role of business, office, retail, entertainment and tourist premises in Australia’s participation in the global economy.
  2. To provide opportunities for an intensity of land uses commensurate with Sydney’s global status.
  3. To permit a diversity of compatible land uses that are characteristic of Sydney’s global status and that serve the workforce, visitors and wider community.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

  • Roads

2 Permitted without consent

Left to the council's LEP.

3 Permitted only with consent

  • Centre-based child care facilities
  • Commercial premises
  • Community facilities
  • Educational establishments
  • Entertainment facilities
  • Function centres
  • Information and education facilities
  • Oyster aquaculture
  • Passenger transport facilities
  • Recreation facilities (indoor)
  • Registered clubs
  • Respite day care centres
  • Restricted premises
  • Tank-based aquaculture
  • Tourist and visitor accommodation

4 Prohibited

Left to the council's LEP.

Direction: This zone may only be used in the City of Sydney and North Sydney local government areas.

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.

SP1: the mapped purpose

As with SP2, the label on the Land Zoning Map (for example SP1 University or SP1 Racecourse) is the permitted use, with anything ordinarily incidental to it. A new use outside that purpose needs an LEP amendment or a Schedule 1 additional permitted use.

SP3: resorts and tourist precincts

Tourist and visitor accommodation and food and drink premises are mandated. Permanent residential accommodation is not, and councils commonly prohibit it in SP3 so that tourist sites are not converted to housing. Serviced apartments are tourist accommodation; a residential flat building is not.

SP4: an empty vessel

SP4 Enterprise mandates almost nothing, so the LEP land use table carries the whole meaning of the zone. Read the table before drawing any conclusion from the label.

SP5: Sydney's global centre

SP5 is used in the Sydney CBD and North Sydney CBD. Its list mirrors E2 with the addition of educational establishments and tourist and visitor accommodation, and the zone name mainly signals the strategic role of those centres. Housing in SP5 depends on the LEP; the Sydney LEP 2012 sets its own detailed rules.

Former zone names

SP4 Enterprise and SP5 Metropolitan Centre were introduced with the 2021 employment zone reforms and Schedule 1 of the Standard Instrument lists both as new zones. Under the Department of Planning's reform guidance the former B8 Metropolitan Centre zone became SP5. SP1 and SP3 are unchanged.

Frequently asked questions

What is SP1 Special Activities zoning?

A zone for a special use not provided for elsewhere, such as a university, port, showground or racecourse. The Standard Instrument permits with consent the purpose written on the Land Zoning Map for the land, and anything ordinarily incidental to it, plus aquaculture.

Can I live permanently on SP3 Tourist land?

Only if the council's LEP permits a residential use in SP3. The Standard Instrument mandates tourist and visitor accommodation and food and drink premises, and councils usually keep SP3 for short-term stays.

What is SP4 Enterprise zoning?

A special purpose zone introduced in 2021 with one objective, supporting enterprise and productivity, and a mandatory list of only identification signs and take away food and drink premises. The council's LEP land use table defines what it permits on any particular land.

Where is SP5 Metropolitan Centre used?

Only in the City of Sydney and North Sydney local government areas; the Standard Instrument's direction limits it to those two. Under the Department's guidance it replaced the former B8 Metropolitan Centre zone.

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.
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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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