When do I need an aircraft noise assessment? A council-by-council guide for NSW

Resonate Consultants · 10 October 2026 · 13 min read

In NSW you'll usually need an aircraft noise assessment if your site is inside an airport's ANEF 20 contour and you're building a new home, making substantial alterations or additions, or creating another noise-sensitive use like a child care centre. The rule comes from your council's local environmental plan, and the details vary from council to council.

This guide explains how the rules work, then goes through every NSW council area near an airport with an aircraft noise control. If you just want to know where your site sits, the free check below will tell you in a minute.

The three questions that decide it

1. Is the site inside an ANEF 20 contour?

The ANEF (Australian Noise Exposure Forecast) is the official map of forecast aircraft noise around an airport. Almost every NSW aircraft noise rule starts at the ANEF 20 contour. Near Western Sydney International, the rules use the airport's ANEC 20 contour as well. If your site is well outside ANEF 20, you usually don't need an assessment. If it's inside, you very likely do. There's more on reading the maps in What is ANEF?

Sites just outside the line are a grey area. The Australian Standard for building near airports, AS 2021, says the ANEF 20 line is hard to place accurately because flight paths vary, and allows its process to be used for sites outside but near it. Some councils go further: Bayside's DCP assesses sites on or immediately next to a contour as if they're inside it, and Randwick's applies to development near or within the ANEF 20 contour.

2. What are you building?

The rules are aimed at uses where people live, sleep or learn. These usually trigger an assessment inside the contour:

• a new house, dual occupancy, townhouses or apartments
• a secondary dwelling (granny flat)
• substantial alterations and additions to an existing home, especially new bedrooms or living areas
• child care centres, schools, hospitals, seniors housing, places of worship and similar uses
• hotels, motels and offices in the higher contours

Minor works that don't add habitable rooms, like a deck, pool, garage or carport, generally don't.

3. What does your council's planning control say?

Most NSW councils near an airport have a clause in their local environmental plan (LEP) headed "Development in areas subject to aircraft noise". The standard version applies to land near the airport in an ANEF contour of 20 or greater, where the council considers the development likely to be affected by aircraft noise. Before approving it, the council must:

• consider whether it will increase the number of dwellings or people affected by aircraft noise
• consider the site against the building site acceptability table in AS 2021 (Table 2.1)
• be satisfied the development will meet the indoor design sound levels in AS 2021 (Table 3.3)

In practice, the way to satisfy that last point is an aircraft noise report from an acoustic consultant showing the design meets the indoor levels. Many councils also have a section in their development control plan (DCP) that spells out what the report needs to cover. Our guide What is AS 2021? explains the standard itself.

Some LEPs still refer to the 2000 edition of AS 2021 and others to the 2015 edition, so check which one your council's clause names.

Complying development (CDC) near airports

Under the state's Exempt and Complying Development Codes SEPP:

• A new dwelling house, or an addition to one, on land in the ANEF 20–25 contours can still be complying development, but it has to be built to AS 2021:2015 (clause 1.18). Your certifier will need to see how the design achieves that, which usually means a report.
• Complying development under the Housing Code and related codes can't be carried out on land in the ANEF 25 contour or higher (clause 1.19), except for ancillary works like decks, garages, sheds and pools. A new house, granny flat or dual occupancy there needs a development application.

The state's newer low and mid-rise housing provisions and pattern book homes, in the Housing SEPP, don't apply on land in an ANEF contour of 25 or greater or an ANEC contour of 20 or greater.

If you're buying, the section 10.7 planning certificate for the property will show whether complying development is ruled out on the land, which flags ANEF 25 and above, and whether a council policy restricts development because of aircraft noise.

Council by council

Below is every NSW council area we've found with an aircraft noise control, grouped by airport, with links to the current clause on the NSW legislation website. We checked them against the in-force text in October 2026. Councils amend their plans, so confirm the current controls with the council before relying on them.

Sydney Airport

The ANEF 20 contour around Sydney Airport stretches north over the inner west and south across Botany Bay. Ten council areas are in or near it, and their rules differ more than you'd expect. See also Building near Sydney Airport.

Councils update their maps at different times after the airport releases a new ANEF, so if your site is close to a contour line, ask the council which ANEF it's applying.

Inner West Council. Inner West LEP 2022, clause 6.8 applies in ANEF 20 and above to new buildings, substantial alterations or additions, and changes of use to homes, child care, schools and similar uses. They must meet the indoor levels in Table 3.3 of AS 2021:2015. Inner West still uses the DCPs of its three former councils. In the former Leichhardt area, the Leichhardt DCP 2013 (C3.12) requires an acoustic report with the DA for a new dwelling exposed to aircraft noise. The Marrickville DCP 2011, Part 2.6 requires new development in ANEF-affected areas to be built to the Australian Standard without spoiling the streetscape. A single new Inner West DCP has been exhibited but not yet adopted.

Bayside Council. Bayside LEP 2021, clause 6.8 requires homes, child care, schools, hospitals and similar uses in ANEF 20 and above, and business premises, hotels, offices and shops in ANEF 25 and above, to meet Table 3.3 of AS 2021:2015. The Bayside DCP 2022 is the most detailed in Sydney:

• development in ANEF 20 and above needs a Noise Impact Assessment showing the indoor levels can be met
• sites on or immediately next to a contour line are assessed as if they're inside it
• homes, schools, hospitals and nursing homes aren't to be located in ANEF 30 and above, and subdivision creating extra residential lots there isn't permitted
• for homes in ANEF 25 and above, the assessment also has to consider outdoor areas such as decks and pergolas

City of Sydney. Sydney LEP 2012, clause 7.17, and clause 6.4 of the two Green Square Town Centre LEPs, require development in ANEF 20 and above to meet Table 3.3 of AS 2021—2000. The Sydney DCP 2012 has no separate aircraft noise controls, so the LEP clause does the work.

Randwick City Council. Randwick LEP 2012, clause 6.9 applies in ANEF 20 and above and refers to AS 2021—2000. Randwick's DCP Part C11 Sydney Airport, in effect from 27 July 2026, says development in ANEF-affected areas must comply with AS 2021-2015. It requires noise attenuation measures recommended by a qualified acoustic consultant, and encourages a pre-lodgement application for new dwellings or substantial alterations in the ANEF 20 area.

City of Canada Bay. Canada Bay LEP 2013, clause 6.13 applies in ANEF 20 and above to new buildings, substantial alterations or additions and some changes of use, which must meet Table 3.3 of AS 2021:2015. Council must also consider whether the development creates a new dwelling or increases the number of people affected. The DCP has no separate aircraft noise section.

Georges River Council. Georges River LEP 2021, clause 6.8 works like Canada Bay's, with AS 2021:2015. The Georges River DCP 2021 (Part 3, section 3.20.1) requires buildings exposed to aircraft noise from Sydney or Bankstown Airport to be designed and built to AS 2021.

Sutherland Shire Council. Sutherland Shire LEP 2015, clause 6.13 is the strictest clause around Sydney Airport. In ANEF 25 and above it prohibits a long list of uses, including dual occupancies, secondary dwellings, multi dwelling housing, seniors housing, boarding houses, child care and schools. Dwelling houses aren't on that list. Council can't grant consent unless the development won't increase the number of dwellings or people affected, and houses, dual occupancies and secondary dwellings in ANEF 20 and above must meet the AS 2021—2000 indoor levels. Repairs, renovations and minor alterations or additions are allowed as long as they don't reduce the building's noise insulation. Kurnell village has its own exceptions, and the Kurnell Peninsula is also covered by Chapter 5 of the Central River City SEPP.

Canterbury-Bankstown. The Canterbury-Bankstown LEP 2023 has no clause for Sydney Airport's contours. Its aircraft noise clause applies near Bankstown Airport (below).

Hunters Hill and Lane Cove. These areas are near the northern end of the contour, but neither LEP has an aircraft noise clause.

Western Sydney International (Badgerys Creek)

Around the new airport the rule is a state one, and it's much stricter. Section 4.17 of the Western Parkland City SEPP says consent must not be granted for noise sensitive development, including new homes, on land in an ANEF or ANEC contour of 20 or greater. There are narrow exceptions: a dwelling house on a vacant lot where one was already permitted, secondary dwellings of up to 85 m² in the ANEC 20–25 contour in Camden, Fairfield, Liverpool, Penrith and Wollondilly, and some older subdivision applications. Where an exception applies, the building must meet the AS 2021 indoor levels.

The rule applies whichever council the land is in. Inside the Western Sydney Aerotropolis, the Aerotropolis DCP also requires extensions and other development in ANEC 20 or higher to meet the indoor levels. Our guide Building near Western Sydney International Airport covers all of this, plus the government's noise insulation program for existing homes.

Bankstown and Camden airports

Canterbury-Bankstown. Canterbury-Bankstown LEP 2023, clause 6.7 sets rules by band. In ANEF 20–25, dwellings other than a single dwelling house must meet AS 2021:2015. Above ANEF 25, dual occupancies, multi dwelling housing, attached dwellings, boarding houses and child care are prohibited, and a dwelling house or seniors housing needs council to be satisfied the occupants will have reasonable amenity.

Liverpool. Liverpool LEP 2008, clause 7.18 applies near Bankstown Airport.

Camden. Camden LEP 2010, clause 7.3 applies near Camden Airport.

Hunter, Central Coast and Hawkesbury

Illawarra, South Coast and Canberra region

North Coast and Northern Rivers

New England and North West

Central West and Orana

Riverina, Murray and Southern Tablelands

Councils near airports with no aircraft noise clause

Several councils near airports have no aircraft noise clause in their LEP, including Newcastle, Maitland, Lake Macquarie, Clarence Valley, Eurobodalla, Goulburn Mulwaree, Yass Valley, Broken Hill, Parkes and Mid-Western. That doesn't always mean aircraft noise is ignored. A DCP, a condition of consent or a certifier can still ask for it, and if your site is inside an ANEF 20 contour, building to AS 2021 is sensible regardless.

What happens next

If your site needs an assessment, the report sets out the aircraft noise level at the site, the noise reduction each room needs, and the minimum sound insulation rating for each window, door, wall and roof or ceiling. If the design as drawn falls short, it says what has to change. Our guide to noise attenuation for homes under flight paths covers the usual upgrades.

With QuietPath, you upload your architectural drawings (floor plans, elevations and sections; window and door schedules help) and confirm the address. A Resonate acoustic engineer prepares the report in days, ready to lodge with your DA or CDC. Approving the development is always the council's or certifier's decision.