A SWAG of residential and retail developments are pressuring Goulburn's outskirts, eagerly awaiting finalisation of the council's new planning laws.

Rural residential subdivisions near Marys Mount, the Crookwell Rd, Middle Arm Rd and around historic Bishopthorpe are either hanging on rezoning, a decision on minimum lot sizes or simply for population to catch up.

The demand for lifestyle blocks close to the city is driving the flurry of proposals.

During a four-hour meeting last Thursday, Goulburn Mulwaree councillors sifted through a host of public submissions on the new planning laws and incorporated them into the draft Local Environmental Plan (LEP)

The amended document will end four years of work to meld the Goulburn City and Mulwaree Shire's planning instruments. All that's left is the Department of Planning's and the Minister's approval.

But a host of subdivision applications will have to wait for a review of rural minimum lot sizes currently underway. A firm decision is not expected until September. The size will then be introduced as a first amendment to the LEP.

Planners are taking a cautious approach to some.

A plan to split land adjoining Bishopthorpe on Range Rd into 35 lots, complementing nearby development in Clyde St, will only be considered when the LEP is reviewed, within the next five years.

"On examination of current land demands, population projections and residential land available in the current zoned areas and future urban release areas, it is considered that the land's rezoning cannot be justified at this time," planners said.

In Foord Rd, also in the city's west, some residents want 2000 sqm lots, changing the 100ha rule they are currently bound by in a "rural transition zone."

However the council will only agree to the change if water services are extended to the area.

More in Monday's Goulburn Post