Riverstone has been caught in limbo for over a decade. In 2010, most of the broader Riverstone precinct was rezoned under the now repealed Growth Centres State planning policy. But the town centre itself remained subject to the Blacktown LEP, creating a policy disconnect that slowed delivery.  

Blacktown Council adopted a masterplan in 2017 and prepared a rezoning proposal between 2018 and 2021. However, the devastating Hawkesbury-Nepean floods of 2021-2022 changed everything. A state-led inquiry led to the Minister for Planning scrapping the original proposal in late 2023. Now the NSW government is taking the reins.  

The rezoning area is currently zoned a patchwork of R2 Low Density Residential, E1 Local Centre and RE1/RE2 Recreation. The proposal seeks to significantly reshape the zoning fabric to enable a town centre aligned with transit and amenity, with the introduction of:  

• R4 High Density 

• MU1 Mixed Use 

• Expanded E1 Local Centre zones  

• A central high-rise core up to 15 storeys near Riverstone Station  

• A mixed-use spine of up to 10 storeys along George Street  

• Gradual scale-down to 2-storey residential fringes