Development Application Process and Definition
A Development Application (DA) is a formal request submitted to a local council for approval of proposed development projects. People may require a Development Application if they plan to undertake alterations and additions to existing dwellings, construct new buildings or change what they will be using their property for.The DA process involves evaluating the proposal against local planning regulations, environmental impacts, and sometimes even community feedback. Once approved, it permits the applicant to proceed with the development under the conditions of the consent.
Do I need a Development Application?
The time it takes for a Development Application to be approved varies from Council to Council and sometimes it can be quite a lengthy process. It is important to note that not all changes to properties require a DA. Some changes may be classified as exempt or complying development. A Town Planner will be able to assist you in determining if a development application is needed for your project.Development Application Tips
Be Prepared and Understand Requirements: It is important to have a good understanding of your local council regulations regarding what can and can’t be done with a property. For many people, these planning laws and regulations are extremely confusing and hard to interpret. We suggest finding an experienced Town Planner that can navigate and manage this process for you. The first step would be to undertake a thorough pre-planning assessment to ensure you are well-prepared before drawing up plans and preparing the application.Maximise Investment Potential: If time, effort, and money are placed into a development, ideally all potential options to receive the greatest return on investment should be considered. Engaging with a good town planner (link to new article) will help uncover possible development options that may have not been considered.
Prepare a Strong Application: When applying, ensure all required documentation is included. If the application is missing documents or is not complete, it will be returned by the assessing officer. This will result in costly delays and can reduce the chances of receiving an approval. We always recommend using a professional Town Planner to help simplify the process, ensure compliance, and navigate any further challenges.
Be Patient: Unfortunately the Council Approval process is not a quick process. The time it takes to get an approval can vary from Council to Council and this is outside the control of the Town Planner. Council can often put out a request for further information. This is common and can often be a good sign that they are reviewing your application and it is progressing. The good news is that if you use us, we manage the entire submission and any additional requests for information on your behalf.
What Should I do if I Need a Development Application?
We recommend enlisting the assistance of our Town Planning team if you’re considering a DA. Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as just filling out a form, often they require a number of other specialist and consultant reports and a qualified planner is able to streamline the process and give you the best chance of approval for your application.Here at Council Approval Group, we have prepared over a thousand development applications, your project is in safe hands with us. Please take the time to watch the video below from our founder and CEO, Colin Fragar. In this episode he shares what you need to know when it comes to Obtaining Council Approval.
Or for those that prefer to read, here is a transcript of the video…
Hey guys, Colin Fragar here from Council Approval Group. I’m in the studio and just finished recording a whole bunch of videos. How cool is this? I really want to make the council approval process fun and also successful for you.
So have you ever been blindsided by something? I just love that expression blindsided. You just kind of imagine that you, out of nowhere, just get smacked from the side. And whatever happens, you don’t be blindsided by the council. That’s probably going to be a very expensive and embarrassing process.
What we have done is created a guide to achieving council approval. And if you have not grabbed a copy, we recommend you get one from our web site. This is Your Ultimate Guide to Council Approval. In here is a whole bunch of tips. And this is what I’m going through in this series of videos to help you to avoid some of the blind spots in dealing with the council approval process. We’ve done thousands of projects and I’ve seen this happen a lot and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.
Recap Episode #1
The very first one, if you haven’t watched the video already, is to spend money on plans before you know which rules apply to your property. Because what that means is that you may settle on a project which isn’t quite as good, not the highest and best use for your property. For example, you may settle on a studio or granny flat and we could have got your subdivision. That might be a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Okay, so that’s the first one.Mistake #2: Forging Ahead Without Knowing the Likelihood of Success
The purpose of this video, the second blindside is that you spend money on plans before knowing the probability of success. So people jump in, they spend money with an architect or a draftsman, which we have in our team and we can certainly offer. But what we say is, instead of going straight to the design process, let’s take a step back and make sure that we understand the probability of success of achieving council approval.We don’t want you going down a rabbit hole spending months and thousands of dollars worth of money only to turn up to Council and it gets refused or rejected.And you got to go, you turn around with the tail behind your legs and you got to start all over again. Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘If I had 10 hours to to cut down a tree, I’d spend nine hours sharpening my axe.’ The principle here is you’re better off to take a little bit of time at the beginning to make sure you’re on the right track and what we recommend to people is a Preliminary Planning Assessment.
Get Started Achieving Council Approval
If you want to go ahead, book in an appointment, go to councilapproval.com.au. Find the appointment button there and book time that’s convenient with you. What happens then is the consultant will give you a call at the appointed time. Then you’ll be able to share with them what you’re trying to achieve.Maybe you’ve got a property in mind and you just want to know what you can do with it. Or maybe you’ve got a specific project you want to achieve. So book in a time, they’ll talk to you. And then they’ll be able to then make a clear roadmap for you going forward so you don’t get blindsided by council. You won’t spend money when you shouldn’t, when you don’t even know what the chances of success achieving council approval are.
Hopefully that’s helpful. I’m really trying to be really helpful and share my heart here. My name is Colin Fragar from Council Approval Group. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in video number three.
Article Last Updated: 30 October 2024