Privacy – You have fantastic ideas for a duplex, however, one of the key challenges with a duplex is privacy. Council will look carefully at how the development proposal affects the privacy of the neighbouring allotments. Often your run-of-the-mill duplex designs won’t comply. Your site will likely need a custom design to ensure that privacy is preserved.

Defining your development – Did you know your plan for duplex or dual occupancy is similar to a secondary dwelling, but with differences? How do you know the difference and what is council likely to support? What may seem like very minor details in your plans could make the difference in the type of approval required.

Bushfire prone land – What do you do if your site is located within a bushfire prone area? Did you know that this may introduce other agencies into the assessment process, such as the Rural Fire Service? What would you need to do to satisfy the requirement of the Rural Fire Service?

Limitations to floor area – Your duplex slightly exceeds the amount of floor area permitted under the council rules. This is because you have a smaller site area than other sites in the district. How to you address this non compliance with the council in order to get a favourable outcome? This is something you will need elaborate upon in the development application to show that exceeding the floor area for the duplex will not have detrimental issues on neighbour amenity.