Murrumbidgee Shire Council has adopted a revised Shipping Container Policy. The Shipping Container Policy was adopted by Council in 2019 to establish development standards for the use and siting of shipping containers within the Murrumbidgee Shire.

Since its adoption, the use of shipping containers as exempt development under the State Environmental Planning Policies has increased, as has the adaptive reuse of shipping containers for other purposes, most notably for dwellings.

The revised Policy addresses these changes by including the exempt uses for shipping containers and altering Section 6.10 of the policy to permit the adaptive re-use of shipping containers to be considered on the merits of the development, instead of limiting their use to only food and drink premises.

These changes do not alter the intent nor implementation of the current policy and as such it is considered that this policy does not need to be publically exhibited.

Any application to use a shipping container will be subject to the notification requirements set out in Council’s Community Participation Plan.

Council is required to review its policies within 12 months of the Council election. A revised Shipping Container Policy was presented to the Council Workshop on September 13 for consideration and to Council as a whole for adoption last week.

This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 13 October 2022.