SEPP 65 - Apartment Design Guide

03 I Siting3E Deep soil zonesDeep soil zones are areas of soil unimpeded by buildingsor structures within a development. They excludebasement car parks, services, swimming pools, tenniscourts and impervious surfaces including car parks,driveways and roof areas.Deep soil zones have important environmental benefits,such as allowing infiltration of rain water to the watertable and reduction of stormwater runoff, promotinghealthy growth of large trees with large canopies andprotecting existing mature trees. Deep soil zones may beconstrained by the size of lot or the location of a proposeddevelopment. To provide shade and amenity for residentsthey can be co-located with communal open space.StreetDeep soil zoneParkingParkingDeep soil zoneFigure 3E.1 Opportunities for deep soil zones are increased when parkinglevels are contained within the building footprintAlternative solutionsReductions to deep soil zone requirementsshould demonstrate that the developmentprovides planting on structure and addressesstormwater management in accordance withsections 4F planting on structures and 4Uwater management and conservationSome circumstances where alternativesolutions may be acceptable include:• lack of space for deep soil at groundlevel due to the building typology and itsrelationship to the site. For example a towerwithin a central business district or shop tophousing in a centre• the ground floor is predominantly nonresidential,site coverage is 100% and thesite is located in a centre• it is demonstrated that deep soil ismaximised and/or alternative planting onstructure is providedTable 1Site areaDeep soil zone requirementsDeep soil zone(% of site area)Minimumdimensionsless than 650m 2 7% consolidated -650m 2 - 1,500m 2 10% 3mgreater than 1,500m 2 15% 6mgreater than 1,500m 2and significant tree cover20% 6mServicesmin 6.0m wideDeep soil zoneBuilding zoneFigure 3E.2 Diagram showing the minimum dimension of deep soil zonesfor sites greater than 1,500 m 260 DRAFT | Apartment Design Guide I September 2014