FAQs

In a nutshell, we are talking about being well - physically, mentally and socially.

Wollondilly Council is committed to pursuing actions and strategies which will contribute to the health and wellbeing of our community. This commitment is underpinned by the following key principles:

• Health is not just the absence of disease or illness, but needs to be understood as a wider concept: “a complete state of physical, mental and social wellbeing” (World Health Organisation, 1946).

• Although health services and facilities play an important role, health and wellbeing are not solely related to clinical health service delivery.

The term 'social determinants of health' refers to the social factors that can affect a person's health - factors such as income, education, conditions of employment, social connectedness, access to transport, access to food, and access to nature and open spaces.

Wollondilly Council’s planning and actions shape the future of the Shire, and therefore influence not only the social determinants of health, but also other determining factors such as environmental conditions and access to health care services and programs.

Overall, Wollondilly Council recognises that the design of built environments can have a significant influence on the liveability of places, and the health and wellbeing of people in a community.

A Social and Health Impact Assessment (SHIA) is a process that seeks to identify, anticipate, understand and manage the social and health outcomes of a new proposal or plan. 

It's a process for evaluating any potential changes to:

• Way of life – live, work, play, interact
• Community – composition, cohesion, character
• Access to use of local infrastructure
• Culture – shared belief, customs, values and stories
• Health and wellbeing – physical and mental
• Physical surroundings – access, safety, amenity
• Personal and property rights – livelihoods, civil liberties
• Decision-making systems – having a say in decisions 
• Fears and aspirations – relating to one or a combination of the above

The process aims to ensure that the negative impacts of development in the Shire are minimised, and the positive impacts of development are maximised.

Two levels of assessments are used according to the scale and type of the development - 

• a Comprehensive Social and Health Impact Report for the larger proposals, and 
• a Social and Health Impact Comment for medium-scale proposals.

Minor and small-scale proposals which are unlikely to have any significant social and health impacts won’t need to undertake the assessment.

It applies everywhere where Wollondilly Shire Council is responsible for land use planning decisions. This means all land covered by Wollondilly Local Environmental Plan 2011 (https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/2016-03-11/epi-2011-0085), as well as some types of development proposals on land in Wilton Growth Area covered by State Environmental Planning Policy (Sydney Region Growth Centres) 2006 (https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/epi-2006-0418).

• Development Applications for development that will result in a reduction of affordable housing
• Development Applications for residential subdivision greater than 100 lots
• Development Applications for sex services premises
• Any major or significant Planning Proposals e.g. rezonings

• Development Applications for housing for seniors or people living with a disability
• Development Applications for new childcare centres with greater than 20 places
• Development Applications for retail premises comprising five or more shops
• Any minor Planning Proposals e.g. low impact rezonings

No. This policy is designed to enhance health and wellbeing for people in Wollondilly. If your development will not have any negative social or health impacts, it will not be be affected by the policy.

Wollondilly is committed to the health and wellbeing of residents, workers and visitors. Council recognises that planning and the built environment can have a huge impact on health. 

In 2018, Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD), embarking on a formal partnership to prioritise embedding health considerations in land use planning. Under the MoU, Council and SWSLHD employ a joint Senior Strategic Health Planner who works across both organisations to coordinate expertise, deliver policy and legislative change, and build capacity. 

Council is taking an integrated approach to addressing health, embedding health and wellbeing considerations in policy documents such as the Community Strategic Plan and Local Strategic Planning Statement, in legislative documents such as Wollondilly Local Environmental Plan 2011, and in the culture of Council’s planning teams.